


NCIS Crew Watch Supernatural With a Twist

by RatchetFangirls



Category: NCIS, Supernatural
Genre: John Winchester's A+ Parenting, Kate was a Hunter, Papa!Gibbs, Tony is a Winchester, Winchester Case in NCIS Jurisdiction, watching supernatural
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-07-22 15:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 37,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7443631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RatchetFangirls/pseuds/RatchetFangirls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Winchesters are discovered to be alive once more, NCIS gains jurisdiction of the case after it is connected to the death of a high-ranking Naval Officer. But when Tony disappears in a 1967 Chevrolet Impala, the rest of the NCIS family is pulled into a room by a mysterious force and are forced to watch a show titled 'Supernatural'. When the truth of Tony's true parentage comes to light, can the NCIS Crew not only understand the truth about the Winchesters, but clear Sam and Dean of all the charges stacked against them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Winchesters

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing! I changed the script of Supernatural to fit with the twist I put in. Sorry if some of the characters are OOC, I'm trying my best.

Vance circled Gibbs and his team as they worked at their desks. Tony was oddly missing, and it was quickly becoming a serious issue. McGee had brought up the security cameras from around the time of his disappearance to the screen, and the video clearly showed Tony getting into the back of a black 1967 Chevrolet Impala and driving away.

This was a cause for concern. Since the death of a high-ranking Naval Officer was connected to the supposedly dead Winchester brothers, NCIS had gained jurisdiction of the Winchester Case over the FBI. This, however, caused Fornell to be a little bit pissed at Gibbs for taking over the case that FBI agents had worked hard on and some lost their life for.

Fortunately, Abby had been able to enhance the reflections of the other occupants of the Impala quite easily, but it did not give the other agents any closure whatsoever. Instead, the results of the facial recognition made them even more nervous, and it made Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo a suspect in the death of the Naval Officer.

Their worst fears seemed to have come true as the driver was reliably identified as Dean Winchester. The person in the passenger's seat was discovered to be the first Winchester's brother, Sam Winchester. This did not make any of the agents feel any better as the Winchester brothers were, to them, a bunch of murdering, crazy psychopaths who worshipped the Devil. There was one other figure in the backseat of the Impala, next to where Tony sat. After some confusion with Justin Ferris, who they knew could not be there, the final figure was identified as Jimmy Novak.

This, of course, made the agents work harder on the case. Hardly a whisper was heard as almost every agent was working on the Winchester case, which had recently become their top priority.

"Tony's phones are turned off," McGee grimaced, as it really was not looking good for his friend.

He, as well as Gibbs and Ziva, turned to Vance as he came around once more.

"Find out as much as possible on Jimmy Novak. It may lead straight to them. And find out what Agent DiNozzo was doing with them." Vance listed.

"Could I help at all?" Fornell, who had come to the NCIS headquarters to probably watch them act like the baboons that the FBI had started to after they got the Winchester case.

Before Vance could answer, Abby rushed into the squadroom. "I've identified the dust the was found around the Officer! Just like we thought, it was sulfur." She looked from Gibbs to McGee to Ziva. "Have you found Tony yet?" she asked desperately.

"Agent DiNozzo was seen getting into the car with the Winchesters and Novak in it. Since he is not here to explain himself, we must treat him like a suspect." Vance explained as gently as he could.

"But Tony would never work with criminals! He must have been threatened or something!" Abby argued.

Vance sighed, "We will figure that out when DiNozzo returns. It may possibly be that he and Novak were threatened by the Winchesters and forced into the car. Reflections can't always show everything. But since Novak and DiNozzo were seen in the back of the Winchesters' car, and we have no prior knowledge of either of them working with the Winchesters yet, we have to treat them like suspects."

"If they return," Abby grumbled, "Vance, the Winchesters have the torture and murder charges! As well as the hostage situation and probably a million other things we don't know about yet! How do we know that Tony and Novak will even be brought back alive?"

But Vance was interrupted before he could answer the forensic scientist.

"Director!" Ziva and McGee hollered in unison as Gibbs hit his computer a few times.

Both Vance's and Abby's attention was brought to them.

Ziva began, "According the Novak's family, including his cousin Justin Ferris, Jimmy Novak began to say they he was the angel Castiel and something about raising a righteous man. According to them, it was Novak's duty to protect the Winchesters."

"So he is an accomplice and not innocent." Vance made note of the new developments. "But why would a guy who believes himself to be an angel think it is his duty to protect two people who worship the Devil?" he wondered.

"That was the other thing I came up for." Abby stated, "The FBI found the circles and other satanic-looking things and never checked what they meant. The things that the Winchesters put up were not for summoning the Devil or anything. They were for protection from demons and other nasty things like that."

Fornell decided to ignore the hidden insult in her words.

Vance, however, raised an eyebrow. "This just keeps getting weirder."

"I found another thing." McGee continued. "According to Tony's personal files, he was not originally a DiNozzo."

"What is he, adopted or something?" Gibbs asked.

"No, he was apparently taken by Child Protective Services after the police found his father letting him use a gun at the age of sixteen with no professional supervision or anything."

"And why didn't he tell us?" Abby inquired.

"Probably to protect the people he is related to." McGee grimaced.

"What is that supposed to mean?" the forensic scientist frowned a bit.

McGee cleared his throat before he continued, "Technically, Tony is actually a-"

He did not get to finish as a light slowly appeared and became brighter, transporting McGee, Ziva, Gibbs, Abby, Vance, Fornell, Ducky, and Palmer into a room that was definitely not part of the NCIS headquarters.


	2. The Supernatural Explanation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gibbs team discover what Tony has been up to throughout his years and that Sam and Dean might not be completely off their rocker. Following a note from someone called "Luci, King of the Bottomless Pit", which caused for a moment of hesitation, they get ready to watch Supernatural.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing! I'm sorry if anything is out of character! Also, sorry if I get any facts wrong.

The team landed in a comfortable-looking room complete with a flat-screen television, two rather large sofas, and many doors marked with their names, the bathroom, and the kitchen.

Ziva, Fornell, Gibbs, and McGee quickly drew out their weapons and, after clearing the room they were in, stepped between Jimmy, Ducky, and Abby. Vance also quick to take action and pulled out a gun as well.

"What just happened?" Abby was in shock, but she was also excited as something new and special might happen.

"I'm not sure." Ducky frowned. "I do not even have a story to compare this to from when I was a lad."

The agents quickly went through the rooms, and everything seemed to be perfectly ordinary. In the room labelled "Kitchen", it was, well, a kitchen. It was the same for the bathroom. Additionally, each room labelled with their people's names seemed to suit each and every person perfectly. It was disturbing, to say the least.

"There is no one else here," Gibbs said, sighing. "No windows, no doors leading outside, no exit. There is absolutely no way to tell where we are."

Looking at each other, they all sat down on one of the two long sofas, each angled to create a "V" shape around the television with a small coffee table in between. Jimmy, Ducky, Abby, and McGee sat on the couch on the left and Ziva, Fornell, Gibbs, and Vance on the right one.

"Agent McGee," Vance turned his attention to the agent. "Before we got into this...mess, what information on Agent DiNozzo were you about to share with us?"

The rest of the agents' attentions were brought to the tech wiz.

McGee sighed, no matter what he still thought of Tony as a friend. "According to his records, before he was given to Anthony DiNozzo Sr., he was the eldest child of John and Mary Winchester, but his mother was deceased at the time. This means that Tony is the eldest brother of Sam and Dean Winchester."

Silence. McGee honestly wasn't sure what he was expecting. Sure, he had managed to keep a cool head when he found out, but he thought that there could be a chance of someone getting really upset. Perhaps they were all going into shock.

"Dear Lord," Ducky managed to get out.

"So you are telling me," Gibbs fought hard to try to remain calm. Getting angry over a piece of information was hardly professional or intimidating. "That there is a really high chance of Tony being involved in several of the Winchesters' crimes, if not all of them. And he never bothered to inform authorities of their whereabouts?"

"Perhaps Tony was just trying to protect them," suggested Abby desperately. "Sometimes even the best of people are blind when it comes to the ones they love the most. Remember Tony getting into that Impala? He loves Sam and Dean. He wouldn't protect them if he thought they were guilty, right? So, Tony must believe his brothers to be innocent."

"While probably doing some illegal things," grumbled Fornell. "I lost agents on that case, and he knew all their secrets the entire time?"

"He might not know all their secrets." Abby defended.

"And he was raised by the same man who taught Sam and Dean Winchester that monsters were real? Perhaps he isn't all right in his head." Fornell was obviously in shock.

"Are you saying that Tony is crazy?" Ziva asked. "And, who cares if he believes in monsters, as long as he doesn't start sacrificing virgins or something strange like his brothers do, he is allowed to believe what he wants to believe."

"And remember, we figured out that the Winchesters were trying to ward off demons instead of summoning them, which the FBI never bothered to find out. What else could you be wrong about?" Abby inquired innocently.

"Fine, they were all going to get a fair and public trial anyway with a jury and lawyers and everything."

And with that, they once again fell into an awkward silence.

And then, just as bright and mysterious as their own arrival, a note fluttered down and landed on the coffee table. Vance, as director, was the one to read it out loud.

"Dear NCIS and FBI,

It has come to my attention that you have uncovered the eldest Winchester sibling from hiding. Yes, it is true that he believes in the supernatural like his brothers. Special Agent Caitlin Todd did as well. Yes, it is also true that he actively hunts what he believes to be the supernatural. Just like his brothers. Todd did so as well. Finally, yes, the supernatural is real. How do you think you appeared in this room? Nothing natural can just claim humans in bright flashes of light, idiots. The supernatural is a very large threat to you guys, and without people like the Winchesters around, humanity would have disappeared a very long time ago. I honestly am astounded by how often the hunters, the people hunting the supernatural, end up in prison. You are locking up your own side and making it easier for mine. I'm only telling you this because I like to think myself to be fair and just. The Winchesters should have at least a few allies, if they ever hope to defeat me. In front of you, you will notice a television. This television will show you exactly what the Winchesters do and how they were raised. It will, hopefully, teach you something about the supernatural world. What allies to the Winchesters would you be if you knew absolutely nothing? The Winchesters themselves are innocent of the charges stacked against them. In all of those locations, they were actually saving humans and killing monsters and demons and such. Now, the other reason I'm doing this is because Michael dared me to do all of this, as we are currently playing a game called "Truth or Dare" that my dearest Sammy taught us how to play during his time in the Cage with us. It is turning out to be quite the entertaining game.

Hope you can figure out who I am, and hello from the Cage,

Luci, King of the Bottomless Pit"

"Luci?" Fornell asked, eyebrows coming together.

"If this is one of your cultural things, I do not see why this Luci would think I'd get it!" Ziva exclaimed, showing her frustration.

Since the end of the letter, Abby had sat straight up with a form of sparkle in her eyes, "With all this supernatural stuff going on, we can assume that this Luci is some form of being. That and with the mention of a cage and Michael, I think that we are dealing with the Devil," she stated this proudly.

"Oh, *@$!#&" Gibbs showed some of his old Marine vocabulary.

McGee gulped visibly, Ziva looked around at the others and the rest showed signs of shock.

"So we're already dealing with the big dogs," Fornell spoke up, being one of the firsts to recover from such a declaration.

"Where does Tony fit into this?" McGee asked.

Gibbs looked at him with the 'How-should-we-know' face that masked one of worry.

"Guys," Palmer spoke up, "I think I'm hyperventilating,"

In fact, most of them were on the edge, except for one.

"Why's this here?" Abby asked while skipping up to the screen. 

Once she touched it, it flared into life.


	3. Twenty-Two Years Ago

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The NCIS team begin to watch the show, starting with the Mary Winchester's death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing! I altered some of the scripts to fit Tony in it. I'm sorry if some characters are out of character. I'm trying my best.

**LAWRENCE, KANSAS**

**22 YEARS AGO**

"Wasn't Lawrence the place where Tony was born?" Abby asked, returning to her seat. She was rather excited, as proof of the supernatural world was all around her.

"That is what his file said." McGee frowned. "But wouldn't this be a little bit too early now? I'm pretty sure that the Winchesters left Lawrence, like, at least 26 years ago or something like that."

"Perhaps this is in perspective with everything else that has happened." Ziva hypothesized. "From what I recall, Sam Winchester was 22 when he left Stanford."

**Crickets chirp. A large deciduous tree with no leaves stands outside one of several suburban houses.**

_**INT. NURSERY - NIGHT** _

**A WOMAN, MARY WINCHESTER, wearing a white nightgown, carries a SMALL CHILD, her son DEAN, into a dark room. They are followed by an older son, TONY, who looks to be around 12 years old.**

"They were so cute!" Abby squealed. "Is that really what Tony looked like?"

"You do know you just said that two guys who are currently being hunted down for murder and other heinous crimes were cute?" McGee raised an eyebrow. 

"We were told they were innocent." the forensic scientist argued.

"By the Devil. He could be lying." McGee stated.

"We will see whether or not they are guilty soon enough." Vance interrupted.

"Ah....the youth have always been so innocent and pure." Ducky smiled, looking at the screen.

**MARY**

**Come on, you two, let's say goodnight to your brother.**

**MARY turns on the lights: it's the nursery of a BABY, SAM, who is lying in his crib and looking at MARY, DEAN and TONY. MARY sets** **DEAN down. DEAN leans over the side of the crib and kisses SAM on the forehead.**

"Aw...." Abby smiled as McGee looked at her strangely. "No matter what you believe," she stated, "You cannot claim that they are not cute."

Jimmy looked at the screen, thinking about how he and Breena were thinking of adopting a child.

**DEAN**

**'Night Sam.**

**MARY turns and gives TONY a pointed look.**

**TONY**

**I'm not kissing him. Goodnight Sam.**

"That's so Tony." McGee couldn't help but laugh.

Gibbs was silent. He stated at the television, lost in his own mind as he thought about the time when he had what they had, when he had it all.

Ziva smiled at the scene, thinking about the time when he father used to do that to her. A pang of sadness hit her when she realized that he would never do it again, and she would never see him again.

Vance was looking at the moment and thinking about Jackie. His sweet, caring, beautiful Jackie.

They all thought their emotions were going unnoticed by others, and that was true, except for one person.

Ducky smiled sadly at all of them, thinking about how wounded his family was, and how strong it made them.

**Sighing, exasperated, MARY leans over SAM.**

**MARY**

**Goodnight, love.**

**MARY brushes SAM's hair back and kisses forehead.**

**MAN**

**Hey Dean, Tony.**

**DEAN turns, TONY looks over his shoulder. The MAN in the doorway wearing a USMC T-shirt is JOHN. DEAN rushes over to him.**

Gibbs looked briefly at the USMC shirt, wondering if he had ever met this man. He knew it was unlikely but he couldn't help but wonder.

**DEAN**

**Daddy!**

**TONY**

**Dad.**

**JOHN**

**Hey, buddy.**

**JOHN scoops DEAN up and gestures for TONY to come closer.**

**JOHN**

**So what do you think? You think Sammy's ready to throw around a football yet?**

**TONY rolls his eyes in fond annoyance. DEAN shakes his head, laughing.**

"They people you care about most should always annoy you once in a while. That way you know that you aren't just following them blindly, but you really do care about them." Ducky said wisely.

Vance froze a bit. He knew from several reports that Dean Winchester would follow his father around and do what he says without hesitation, something that always would irritate his younger brother. Could it be that Dean Winchester tricked himself into caring about his father when he really doesn't at all? That was impossible, right? Vance couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss about John Winchester's relationship with his sons was...off, to say the least.

**DEAN**

**No, Daddy.**

**JOHN laughs.**

**JOHN**

**No.**

**MARY passes the three on the way out of the room.**

**MARY**

**You got him?**

**JOHN**

**I got him.**

Vance frowned again. He had him, but would he let him go after Mary Winchester's death? He had a dark feeling about what his theory would uncover.

**JOHN hugs DEAN closer TONY follows MARY out of the room.**

**JOHN**

**Sweet dreams, Sam.**

**JOHN carries DEAN out of the room, flipping off the lights. SAM watches them go, gurgling, then he tries to reach his toes.**

**The baseball themed mobile above SAM's crib begins to spin on its own while SAM watches. The transportation-themed clock on the wall ticks, ticks, stops. The moon shaped nightlight flickers.**

_**INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT** _

**Lights flicker on a BABY monitor sitting on a nightstand next to a photo of MARY and JOHN. Strange noises come through the monitor. MARY, asleep in bed, stirs. She turns on the light on the nightstand.**

The NCIS team looked nervously at the television. This here must have been the moment when everything went to hell for the Winchesters. When they lost everything. And when John might have gone too far with his sons.

**MARY**

**John?**

**MARY turns: she's alone. She gets up.**

_**INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT** _

**MARY walks down the hall to SAM's nursery. JOHN, seen only in silhouette, stands over SAM's crib.**

**MARY**

**John? Is he hungry?**

**JOHN turns his head.**

**MAN**

**Shhhh.**

"He did not answer." Abby frowned. "There is something weird about him!"

"Like what?" McGee asked nervously.

"I don't know yet. But something is."

**MARY**

**All right.**

**MARY heads back down the hallway. The light by the stairs is flickering. MARY frowns and goes to tap at it till the light steadies.**

**MARY**

**Hm.**

**More flickering light is coming from downstairs: MARY investigates. A war movie is on the TV and JOHN has fallen asleep watching it. If JOHN is here, MARY realises, the the MAN upstairs cannot be JOHN and must be a danger. She runs back upstairs.**

"So there is someone in Sam's nursery?" Ziva questioned.

"Probably something supernatural, if we are being shown it." Jimmy added.

**MARY**

**Sammy! Sammy!**

**MARY enters SAM's nursery and stops short.**

_**INT. LIVING ROOM -** _ **_NIGHT_** ****

**Upstairs, MARY screams. JOHN wakes up.**

**JOHN**

**Mary?**

**JOHN scrambles out of the chair.**

**JOHN**

**Mary!**

**JOHN runs upstairs.**

Gibbs started to feel sick. He knew what John felt like, but if Vance's theory was correct, he didn't like that comparison at all. He remembered being desperate when he was told about Shannon and Kelly's death. Desparate for it to be a dream. Not real. Then, after accepting that it was real, he went on what could only be called a crusade. For revenge, of course. And he did not stop until the son of a bitch that killed his family was dead.

Now, knowing about the supernatural world, Gibbs couldn't help but wonder. What if Pedro Hernandez was not actually gone? He almost threw up in front of his team just thinking about it. No, it wasn't possible, right?

But Gibbs could not ignore the feeling of paranoia that was beginning to settle over him.

Ducky looked over to his friend. It was obvious something dark was on his mind, like the time after Kate's death. After noticing he was in a funk at that time, Ducky had taken time out of his day for about a month to talk to him. It took a while, but Gibbs eventually told him that he was seeing Kate everywhere. He also admitted at one point that Kate told him that "he should kill himself".

That was a moment in Ducky's life that he would never forget, and he certainly didn't like what he was seeing now.

_**INT. NURSERY - NIGHT** _

**JOHN bursts through the closed door of the nursery.**

**JOHN**

**Mary.**

**The room is quiet and appears empty except for SAM awake in his crib and JOHN. JOHN glances around and pushes down the side of SAM's crib.**

**JOHN**

**Hey, Sammy. You okay?**

**Something dark drips next to SAM. JOHN touches it. Two more drops land on the back of JOHN's hand. It looks like blood. JOHN looks up. MARY is sprawled across the ceiling, the stomach of her nightgown red with blood, staring at JOHN and struggling to breathe. JOHN collapses onto the floor, staring at MARY.**

"Oh my God...." McGee's eyes widened.

Everyone gaped at the image.

"She's on the ceiling...." Ziva muttered, horrified. That was certainly enough to drive John to what the agents thought to be PTSD.

"She's still alive!" Abby cried.

**JOHN**

**No! Mary!**

**MARY bursts into flame. The fire spreads over the ceiling. JOHN stares, frozen. SAM wails. JOHN, reminded he's not alone, get a up and scoops SAM out of his crib and rushes out of the room.**

_**INT. HALLWAY -** _ **_NIGHT_**

**TONY and DEAN are awake and they have come to investigate.**

"Tony saw it? And he was old enough to remember it?" Jimmy asked.

Ducky made a note to talk to Tony too, when he got the chance.

**DEAN**

**Daddy!**

**JOHN shoves SAM at the two, DEAN takes him and TONY pushes past JOHN only to be held back by an arm. JOHN leans over DEAN.**

**JOHN**

**Take your brother outside as fast as you can and don't look back! Now, Dean, go!**

**DEAN turns and runs. JOHN and TONY turn back towards the nursery.**

"Tony, get out of there!" Abby waves desperately.

"He's still alive!" McGee reassured her.

**JOHN**

**Tony, go outside!**

**With on final shove, JOHN pushes TONY away from the fire, he races out of the house.**

**JOHN**

**Mary!**

**The entire room is on fire. MARY herself can barely be seen.**

Everyone's breath hitched in their throats again. Barely ten minutes in and someone has been brutally murdered. How many times has this happened? And why haven't they noticed it? How many innocent people were put behind bars for something a supernatural did? The thought made them all uncomfortable.

**JOHN**

**No!**

_**EXT. HOUSE - NIGHT** _

**DEAN runs outside, holding SAM.**

**DEAN**

**It's okay, Sammy.**

**DEAN turns to look up at SAM's window, which is lit with gold.**

**TONY runs outside, scoops up DEAN and SAM, and carries them both away. Shortly after, JOHN leaves too.**

The team looked sadly at the family, thinking about how much it must have hurt Tony to be stripped away from his family when he was sixteen. He obviously loved them, but did he blame John for not coming back for him? Grief does strange things to the mind, John Winchester being a prime example.

**TONY**

**I gotcha.**

**Fire explodes out of SAM's nursery window.**

They winced. If the Winchester's hadn't gotten out of there when they did...

_**EXT. HOUSE - NIGHT,** _ _**LATER** _ ****

**The Lawrence fire department has arrived. A FIREFIGHTER gets out of a fire truck and takes over at the gauges for another FIREFIGHTER.**

**FIREFIGHTER**

**I got it. You go hol the line up.**

**The second FIREFIGHTER goes to the back of the truck and takes a hose from a third FIREFIGHTER. That FIREFIGHTER takes the hose towards the house where a fourth FIREFIGHTER is spraying through SAM's nursery window. A paramedic opens the back of an ambulance. A POLICE OFFICER waves some neighbors back.**

**OFFICER**

**Stay back. You have to stay back.**

**Across the street from the house, JOHN and DEAN sit on the good of the Impala. TONY, standing next to them, holds SAM. JOHN glares at the remnants of the fire.**

Gibbs looked at John. He knew what he was going to do, since he saw much of himself in John Winchester. Only he transformed his intense emotions into something different. Sure, he had gotten his revenge. But to Gibbs, the children were of top priority. And John had his children with him. He did not lose them. And that made what John did completely unacceptabl.

"That was...intense." Jimmy stared at the screen.

And it was. The NCIS team looked at the television and waited for the next part to come on in silence.


	4. Pilot - Act One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After watching the death of Mary Winchester, the NCIS team starts watching Act One of Pilot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing! Sorry if anyone is out of character, and the script, which I borrowed, has been altered to suit this story.

**Stanford University**

**Present Day**

**It is 31 Oct 2005.**

"That isn't the date...." McGee mentioned.

"It is probably when the Winchesters started doing things that led to them becoming, well, thought to become, known criminals." Ziva assumed.

**"Gasoline" by Ginger begins to play.**

###  APARTMENT

**_INT. BEDROOM – DAY_ **

**YOUNG WOMAN**   
**Sam!**

The agents looked sad. They knew she was going to die, and it was painful to see her going around as if nothing was wrong, when she was going to be dead in a few says.

**The YOUNG WOMAN, JESS, comes around a corner; she is wearing a sexy-nurse costume and adjusting her hat. The photo of MARY and JOHN from earlier is on the dresser.**

"What is she dressed up like that for?" Gibbs inquired.

"Halloween," Jimmy grinned slightly.

"I know...but why in that....revealing outfit?"

Ducky chuckled. "It seems to be a dad nowadays. When I was a young boy, everyone dressed up in non-revealing clothes on Halloween night. It was a time to scare people, instead of showing off or attracting them."

**JESS**   
**Get a move on, would you?**

**MUSIC**   
**I've been shot from a cannon**

**JESS**   
**We were supposed to be there like fifteen minutes ago.**

They looked confused slightly.

"Sam always seemed punctual, on time, from what we've seen," McGee noted.

"Perhaps he doesn't want to go?" the former Mossad agent brought up.

"I hope Halloween isn't, like, cursed or anything." Abby prayed. "I love Halloween..."

**JESS walks off.**

**JESS**   
**Sam!**

**MUSIC**   
**I'm a human cannonball**

**JESS**   
**You coming or what?**

**A YOUNG MAN pokes his head around the corner; this is SAM. He's wearing jeans and three shirts, not a costume.**

"He doesn't sound like Tony at all," McGee chuckled.

The other people in the room laughed at that.

**SAM**   
**Do I have to?**

**JESS**   
**Yes!**

"Persistent." Vance's lips twitched.

**MUSIC**   
**I'm gonna fly high**

**JESS**   
**It'll be fun.**

**SAM comes into the room.**

**JESS**   
**And where's your costume?**

"Isn't it possible that he is wearing his costume? He was wearing at least three shirts..." Ziva observed.

"That is probably normal for him. All of the pictures we have seen of the brothers have them wearing multiple layers." Gibbs answered.

"They are probably not used to being able to have many belongings. What they could fit in a small bag or carry on their body was likely the extent of it..." Ducky guessed.

They were silent for a moment. Tony, while he didn't wear quite as much as his brothers, lived with the DiNozzo family.

**MUSIC**   
**I'm gonna fall fall fall**

**SAM laughs and ducks his head.**

**SAM**   
**You know how I feel about Halloween.**

"So it is cursed?" Abby looked depressed.

"Any time when it is a holiday or an event is probably a likely target." Gibbs was quick to soothe the girl he thought of as a daughter. "Like terrorists, who target busy places. You've survived so far, haven't you?"

The goth cheered up considerably.

###  PARTY

**_INT. BAR – NIGHT_ **

**Classic's "What Cha Gonna Do" begins to play.**

**MUSIC**   
**Show me whatcha gonna do**   
**Yeah whatcha gonna do**   
**Are you trying to get in**   
**Yeah whatcha gonna do**

**The bar is decorated for Halloween (including a gargoyle with cobwebs and a baseball hat that says "GET NAKED"). Someone pours someone else a shot. Everyone is in costume.**

"Sam does...stand out, doesn't he?" Ziva took a moment to think of the proper term.

**MUSIC**   
**Are you gonna ride**

**JESS raises a glass as a YOUNG MAN in a ghoul costume, LUIS, comes up to the table where SAM and JESS are. SAM is still not in costume.**

**JESS**   
**So here's to Sam—**

**MUSIC**   
**Baby**

**JESS**   
**—and his awesome LSAT victory.**

"According to his record, he did really well on that. Like, freakishly good." Abby sighed. "He's probably sad that he can't continue with it now. Even if we were to, you know, clear his name, Stanford might not want him."

**SAM**   
**All right, all right, it's not that big a deal.**

**JESS, SAM, and LUIS clink glasses.**

**JESS**   
**Yeah, he acts all humble.**

"That does seem to be a thing for both of the Winchesters." McGee smiled slightly. "You know, how we have all been thinking they've been killing people, but instead, they've been saving them. And they never asked to even be recognized, let along paid."

"Let's still keep an open mind." Vance reminded him. "We still don't know about everything they've done. If they most they do is simple, petty things, like fake IDs, then we can forgive them for some of it, as long as they continue saving people."

"Like community service?" Jimmy inquired.

"Yes," the director agreed.

**JESS**   
**But he scored a one seventy-four.**

**LUIS drinks his shot and so does SAM.**

**LUIS**   
**Is that good?**

**JESS**   
**Scary good.**

Abby nodded appreciatively.

**JESS drinks.**

**LUIS**   
**So there you go. You are a first-round draft pick. You can go to any law school you want!**

**LUIS sits next to SAM.**

"He seems like a good friend." Abby looked between them.

"But they probably won't be anymore." Ziva reminded. "Luis thinks Sam is a cold-blooded, murdering psychopath."

The forensic scientist's face fell. It just didn't seem fair, not fair at all.

**SAM**   
**Actually, I got an interview here. Monday. If it goes okay I think I got a shot at a full ride next year.**

**JESS**   
**Hey. It's gonna go great.**

**SAM**   
**It better.**

"He probably depends on that full ride, as he doesn't seem like the type of person to go to other people constantly for money." Jimmy grinned.

**LUIS**   
**How does it feel to be the golden boy of your family?**

**SAM**   
**Ah, except for my eldest brother, Tony, they don't know.**

They all frowned again. They had assumed that his father wouldn't really care, but Dean? Where is he?

**LUIS**   
**Oh, no, I would be gloating! Why not?**

**SAM**   
**Because we're not exactly the Bradys.**

Ziva raised an eyebrow. "What is that?"

"It is an old TV show." McGee explained. "Tony would know it."

She nodded.

**LUIS**   
**And I'm not exactly the Huxtables. More shots?**

**JESS and SAM speak in chorus.**

**JESS and SAM**   
**No. No.**

**SAM**   
**No.**

**LUIS goes up to the bar anyway.**

Gibbs chuckled slightly, making the first sound in a while.

**JESS**   
**No, seriously. I'm proud of you. And you're gonna knock 'em dead on Monday—**

**JESS**   
**—and you're gonna get that full ride. I know it.**

**SAM**   
**What would I do without you?**

**JESS**   
**Crash and burn.**

**JESS smiles and pulls SAM in for a kiss.**

The agents looked at each other awkwardly. This was a private moment, one of the last good memories Sam would have of Jess. It wasn't their right to be invading it like this.

**MUSIC**   
**Are you trying to get in**   
**Yeah whatcha gonna do**

###  APARTMENT

**_INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT_ **

**MUSIC**   
**Are you gonna ride baby**

**SAM and JESS lie in bed, asleep back to back. JESS shifts position.**

**A sound outside the room, like a window opening. SAM opens his eyes.**

"Is someone breaking in?" Abby looked worried.

"I remember that a little bit before her death, Jess had said that Dean had broke in, but she never reported it to the police." McGee mentioned.

Abby looked relieved.

**_INT. APARTMENT – NIGHT_ **

**SAM leaves the bedroom and looks around the apartment.**

**A window is open; earlier it must have been closed. Footsteps. A MAN walks past the strings of beads at the far end of the hall. SAM moves to another part of the apartment and waits. The MAN enters the room. SAM lunges forward and grabs the MAN at the shoulder. The MAN knocks SAM's arm away and aims a strike at SAM, who ducks. The MAN grabs SAM's arm, swings him around, and shoves him back. SAM kicks and is blocked, then pushed back into another room. If the MAN hadn't seen SAM's face before, he sees it now; SAM gets his first glimpse of the MAN. The MAN elbows SAM in the face; SAM kicks at his head. The MAN ducks and swings and SAM blocks. The MAN knocks SAM down and pins him to the floor, one hand at SAM's neck and the other holding SAM's wrist.**

They all looked amazed at the skill the two brothers fought with. It reminded them of times Ziva started fighting.

"I would love to spar with them sometime, if they are innocent." she said idly.

"They would make brilliant assets to the team." Vance stated. "A team that just fights the supernatural. They wouldn't need any more legal training, as I doubt that demons will be getting any rights any time soon." he chuckled slightly. "I want to ask them, if they prove to be innocent. That way Tony won't have to use his pay check to help them out."

"Speaking of Tony....do you think he can do that?" Abby questioned. "His dad would probably teach him, right?"

Everyone in the room thought about this for a bit, deciding that Tony probably could do it.

**MAN**   
**Whoa, easy, tiger.**

**SAM breathes hard.**

**SAM**   
**Dean?**

**DEAN laughs.**

Abby breathed another sigh of relief. It was good to have evidence.

**SAM**   
**You scared the crap out of me!**

**DEAN**   
**That's 'cause you're out of practice.**

**SAM grabs DEAN's hand and yanks, slamming his heel into DEAN's back and DEAN to the floor.**

"Ah, the need between brothers to prove that they are adequate, if not better. A never-ending rivalry...." Ducky grinned. "Although, I doubt that Sam and Dean had a lot of it."

**DEAN**   
**Or not.**

**SAM taps DEAN twice where SAM is holding him.**

**DEAN**   
**Get off of me.**

**SAM rolls to his feet and pulls DEAN up.**

**SAM**   
**What the hell are you doing here?**

**DEAN**   
**Well, I was looking for a beer.**

Gibbs laughed once more. "He reminds me of Tony..."

The agents joined in the hysterics.

**DEAN puts his hands on SAM's shoulders, shakes once, and lets go.**

**SAM**   
**What the hell are you doing here?**

"Oh...repeating the exact same phrase..." Abby tsked. "Not a good sign. What happened between them?"

"Perhaps this will inform us. Nowadays, the Winchesters seem to have an unhealthy amount of dependence on each other." Ducky observed.

**DEAN**   
**Okay. All right. We gotta talk.**

**SAM**   
**Uh, the phone?**

**DEAN**   
**If I'd'a called, would you have picked up?**

**JESS turns the light on. She is wearing very short shorts and a cropped Smurfs shirt.**

"What is it with her and wearing those sort of clothes?" Gibbs muttered under his breath.

The ones who heard him snickered slightly.

**JESS**   
**Sam?**

**SAM and DEAN turn their heads in unison.**

**SAM**   
**Jess. Hey. Dean, this is my girlfriend, Jessica.**

**DEAN looks at her appreciatively.**

"Uh oh..." McGee knew what was coming, as he had seen Tony do similar things.

**JESS**   
**Wait, your brother Dean?**

**JESS smiles. SAM nods. DEAN grins at her and moves closer.**

**DEAN**   
**Oh, I love the Smurfs. You know, I gotta tell you. You are completely out of my brother's league.**

"Now, he is really reminding me of Tony!" Ziva exclaimed.

"Perhaps Dean started acting like Tony after he was taken by Protective Services, as a way to fill in the 'big brother' role that he only had Tony to copy off of."

**JESS**   
**Just let me put something on.**

**JESS turns to go. DEAN's voice stops her.**

**DEAN**   
**No, no, no, I wouldn't dream of it. Seriously.**

The agents all groaned once more.

**DEAN goes back over to SAM without taking his eyes off JESS. SAM watches him, his expression stony.**

**DEAN**   
**Anyway, I gotta borrow your boyfriend here, talk about some private family business.**

**DEAN**   
**But, uh, nice meeting you.**

**SAM**   
**No.**

**SAM goes over to JESS and puts an arm around her.**

**SAM**   
**No, whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her.**

"Does she know about the supernatural?" Abby sounded confused. "Shouldn't Sam know that, if Dean were to come all the way there, it is probably about it?"

They were silent for a while.

**DEAN**   
**Okay.**

**DEAN turns to look at them both straight on.**

**DEAN**   
**Um. Dad hasn't been home in a few days.**

**SAM**   
**So he's working overtime on a Miller Time shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later.**

They all winced at his words. If Sam thought he was that bad....

**DEAN ducks his head and looks back up.**

**DEAN**   
**Dad's on a hunting trip. And he hasn't been home in a few days.**

**SAM's expression doesn't change while he takes this in. JESS glances up at him.**

**SAM**   
**Jess, excuse us. We have to go outside.**

"So she doesn't know." Abby decided.

###  OUTSIDE APARTMENT

**_INT. STAIRWELL – NIGHT_ **

**SAM and DEAN head downstairs. SAM has put on jeans and a hoodie.**

**SAM**   
**I mean, come on. You can't just break in, middle of the night, and expect me to hit the road with you.**

**DEAN**   
**You're not hearing me, Sammy. Dad's missing. I need you to help me find him.**

**SAM**   
**You remember the poltergeist in Amherst? Or the Devil's Gates in Clifton? He was missing then, too. He's always missing, and he's always fine.**

Gibbs narrowed his eyes. That was not how a father was supposed to act. His hatred of the man was growing. That was the man who raised one of his agents, a man he thought of as a son.

It was unacceptable.

**DEAN stops and turns around. SAM stops too.**

**DEAN**   
**Not for this long. Now are you gonna come with me or not?**

**SAM**   
**I'm not.**

**DEAN**   
**Why not?**

**SAM**   
**I swore I was done hunting. For good.**

They glanced at each other again. How had was that life? They couldn't imagine it.

**DEAN**   
**Come on. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't that bad.**

**DEAN starts downstairs again. SAM follows.**

**SAM**   
**Yeah? When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45.**

"He did WHAT?" Gibbs finally snapped, muttering furiously about different things.

Abby had some tears start appearing in her eyes. "He must have done that to Tony, too..."

Vance looked at the screen darkly. He couldn't even imagine thinking for one second about giving a weapon, loaded or not, to his children.

**DEAN stops at the door to the outside.**

**DEAN**   
**Well, what was he supposed to do?**

"It's disturbing how okay Dean is with it...?" Jimmy mentioned.

"After Tony left, Dean was the oldest. John probably imprinted some of his beliefs, like the weapon using, on him." Ducky said gravely.

**SAM**   
**I was nine years old! He was supposed to say, don't be afraid of the dark.**

**DEAN**   
**Don't be afraid of the dark? Are you kidding me? Of course you should be afraid of the dark. You know what's out there.**

"I wonder just how much is out there..." Abby looked thoughtful, as she received a few questioning looks. "Like, if demons are real, what about things like vampires, werewolves, even things from every culture that most people don't know about? What is fact, and what is fiction?" 

"Maybe we should take notes." Vance decided. "Like, lists of supernatural things we should be aware of, its characteristics, and how to kill it. And a list of victims, too. I doubt hunters took the time to track down every single family and inform them that a person who they thought was only missing is actually dead. They would be focussed on their next hunt."

The team all got out pens and paper. Except for Jimmy, who was missing a pen and needed to borrow one of Ducky's.

**SAM**   
**Yeah, I know, but still. The way we grew up, after Mom was killed, and Dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her.**

**DEAN glances outside.**

**SAM**   
**But we still haven't found the damn thing. So we kill everything we _can_ find.**

**DEAN**   
**We save a lot of people doing it, too.**

"They do." Ziva agreed.

**A pause.**

**SAM**   
**You think Mom would have wanted this for us?**

**DEAN rolls his eyes and slams the door open.**

"She probably wouldn't. It is in a mother's nature to avoid things that could harm her children." Ducky said wisely.

**_EXT. PARKING LOT – NIGHT_ **

**There's a short flight of stairs from the door to the parking lot. DEAN and SAM climb it.**

**SAM**   
**The weapon training, and melting the silver into bullets? Man, Dean, we were raised like warriors.**

"Where would they melt silver? There doesn't seem to be enough room to have something to do all of the functions they would need." Ziva mentioned.

"There are probably some hunters who live in a house and provide those things." Abby guessed.

**They cross the parking lot to the Impala from the prologue.**

**DEAN**   
**So what are you gonna do? You're just gonna live some normal, apple pie life? Is that it?**

**SAM**   
**No. Not normal. Safe.**

**DEAN**   
**And that's why you ran away.**

**DEAN looks away.**

"So he ran away to Stanford....that probably explains why they don't know about his score." McGee stated.

"John Winchester probably wouldn't let him go." Gibbs growled slightly.

**SAM**   
**I was just going to college. It was Dad who said if I was gonna go I should stay gone. And that's what I'm doing.**

The agents went into shock again.

"How could he just abandon his son like that?" Vance and Gibbs asked in unison, but no one commented on it.

**DEAN**   
**Yeah, well, Dad's in real trouble right now. If he's not dead already. I can feel it.**

**SAM is silent.**

**DEAN**   
**I can't do this alone.**

**SAM**   
**Yes you can.**

"He's probably just lonely. I know I would be." Abby admitted readily.

**DEAN looks down.**

**DEAN**   
**Yeah, well, I don't want to.**

**SAM sighs and looks down, thinking, then up.**

**SAM**   
**What was he hunting?**

"So Sam is going anyway?" Ziva asked. "Dean must have convinced him, yes?"

They all agreed.

**DEAN opens the trunk of the Impala, then the spare-tire compartment. It's an arsenal. He props the compartment open with a shotgun and digs through the clutter.**

"It isn't so bad looking at the arsenal when I know it wasn't used on innocent civilians." the forensic scientist noted.

**DEAN**   
**All right, let's see, where the hell did I put that thing?**

**SAM**   
**So when Dad left, why didn't you go with him?**

**DEAN**   
**I was working my own gig. This, uh, voodoo thing, down in New Orleans.**

**SAM**   
**Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?**

**DEAN looks over at SAM.**

**DEAN**   
**I'm twenty-six, dude.**

They all laughed slightly at the indignant reply.

**DEAN pulls some papers out of a folder.**

**DEAN**   
**All right, here we go. So Dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop just outside of Jericho, California. About a month ago, this guy.**

**DEAN hands one of the papers to SAM.**

**DEAN**   
**They found his car, but he vanished. Completely MIA.**

"They use the same terms we do." McGee noticed.

"There father was a Marine." Gibbs reminded.

Somehow, that made them even angrier. A Marine. One of their own, treating his sons like that?

**The paper is a printout of an article** **from the _Jericho Herald_ , headlined "Centennial Highway Disappearance" and dated Sept. 19th 2005; it has a man's picture, captioned "Andrew Carey MISSING". SAM reads it and glances up.**

Gibbs made the note of:  _Andrew Carey of Jericho, California_ under what he titled  _List of Victims._

He knew that if Andrew Carey wasn't already found and returned by the Winchesters, he was definitely dead. He would have to see if his family knew about his passing.

**SAM**   
**So maybe he was kidnapped.**

**DEAN**   
**Yeah. Well, here's another one in April.**

**DEAN tosses down another _Jericho Herald_ article for each date he mentions.**

**DEAN**   
**Another one in December 'oh-four, 'oh-three, 'ninety-eight, 'ninety-two, ten of them over the past twenty years.**

**DEAN takes the article back from SAM and picks up the rest of the stack, putting them back in the folder.**

**DEAN**   
**All men, all the same five-mile stretch of road.**

"The police probably picked up on that, right?" Ziva questioned.

"Yeah, otherwise Dean wouldn't know it. It was in the newspaper, after all." McGee answered.

"Why didn't they put police on a constant patrol their? Or tell them to avoid that road?" she looked slightly angry.

The agents looked at each other, muttering about the incompetence the police seemed to display.

**DEAN pulls a bag out of another part of the arsenal.**

**DEAN**   
**It started happening more and more, so Dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago. I hadn't heard from him since, which is bad enough.**

**DEAN grabs a handheld tape recorder.**

**DEAN**   
**Then I get this voicemail yesterday.**

**He presses play. The recording is staticky and the signal was clearly breaking up.**

**JOHN**   
**Dean...something big is starting to happen...I need to try and figure out what's going on. It may... Be very careful, Dean. We're all in danger.**

"It sounds like something is underneath that message." Ziva moved her hair out of the way of her ear.

**DEAN presses stop.**

**SAM**   
**You know there's EVP on that?**

She then looked satisfied.

Jimmy took the note _EVP_ on his paper.

**DEAN**   
**Not bad, Sammy. Kinda like riding a bike, isn't it?**

**SAM shakes his head.**

**DEAN**   
**All right. I slowed the message down, I ran it through a gold wave, took out the hiss, and this is what I got.**

**He presses play again.**

**WOMAN**   
**I can never go home...**

"That is creepy..." McGee shuddered.

"Creepy? That was awesome...." Abby was in awe.

**DEAN presses stop.**

**SAM**   
**Never go home.**

**DEAN drops the recorder, puts down the shotgun, stands straight, and shuts the trunk, then leans on it.**

**DEAN**   
**You know, in almost two years I've never bothered you, never asked you for a thing.**

"He's guilt-tripping Sam." McGee chuckled, "Sarah and I used to do that all the time..."

**SAM looks away and sighs, then looks back.**

**SAM**   
**All right. I'll go. I'll help you find him.**

"And it worked." he finished.

**DEAN nods.**

**SAM**   
**But I have to get back first thing Monday. Just wait here.**

**SAM turns to go back to the apartment. He turns back when DEAN speaks.**

**DEAN**   
**What's first thing Monday?**

**SAM**   
**I have this...I have an interview.**

They noted how hesitant Sam seemed to tell him.

**DEAN**   
**What, a job interview? Skip it.**

**SAM**   
**It's a law school interview, and it's my whole future on a plate.**

**DEAN**   
**Law school?**

**DEAN smirks.**

"Oh God..." McGee shuddered. "He thinks Sam is a nerd. He really is like Tony."

**SAM**   
**So we got a deal or not?**

**DEAN says nothing.**

"Dean doesn't want Sam to do it." Ducky said suddenly. "He would much prefer it if Sam would never go back."

###  APARTMENT

**_INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT_ **

**SAM is packing a duffel bag. He pulls out a large hook-shaped knife and slides it inside. JESS comes into the room.**

"How did she not notice that?" Abby gaped.

"Sometimes the mind sees only what it wants to." Fornell, who had been quiet for a long time, spoke up. He wanted to know whether or not it was something supernatural that killed his agents. It just didn't sit right with him, so he spent a lot of his time observing the people who they searched for forever.

**JESS**   
**Wait, you're taking off?**

**SAM looks up.**

**JESS**   
**Is this about your dad? Is he all right?**

**SAM**   
**Yeah. You know, just a little family drama.**

"That is an understatement." Abby mumbled.

**SAM goes over to the dresser and turns on the lamp atop it.**

**JESS**   
**Your brother said he was on some kind of hunting trip.**

**JESS sits on the bed. SAM rummages in one of the drawers and comes out with a couple shirts, which go in the duffel.**

**SAM**   
**Oh, yeah, he's just deer hunting up at the cabin, he's probably got Jim, Jack, and José along with him. I'm just going to go bring him back.**

"Who are Jim, Jack, and José?" Jimmy inquired. "Are they other hunters? Do we need to write them down?"

Fornell and Gibbs burst out laughing.

"It refers to different types of alcohol..." Gibbs managed through the hysterics, and Jimmy blushed visibly.

"But, it probably would be wise to write down the names of hunters, alive or dead. We don't want another Winchester situation to arise." Vance decided.

Ziva took the liberty of writing down  _Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, and John Winchester_ under  _List of Hunters._

"Perhaps we could also make a symbol? Like, put an 'x' beside hunters' names, such as John Winchester, who broke the law too severely to be forgiven?" McGee proposed.

Ziva nodded, and she added the 'x' to her sheet.

**JESS**

**What about the interview?**

**SAM**   
**I'll make the interview. This is only for a couple days.**

The agents glanced at each other. They knew he never made it to that interview.

**SAM goes around the bed. JESS gets up and follows.**

**JESS**   
**Sam, I mean, please.**

**SAM stops and turns.**

**JESS**   
**Just stop for a second. You sure you're okay?**

"She was such a nice girl...." Abby looked downtrodden.

**SAM laughs a little.**

**SAM**   
**I'm fine.**

**JESS**   
**It's just...you won't even talk about your family. And now you're taking off in the middle of the night to spend a weekend with them? And with Monday coming up, which is kind of a huge deal.**

"That would sound suspicious." McGee allowed.

**SAM**   
**Hey. Everything's going to be okay. I will be back in time, I promise.**

**He kisses her on the cheek and leaves.**

**JESS**  
 **At least tell me where you're going**.

"She must have been so worried..." the goth continued.

###  CENTENNIAL HIGHWAY

**_EXT. CENTENNIAL HIGHWAY – NIGHT_ **

**Jericho, California**

**The Eagles of Death Metal's "Speaking in Tongues" plays. A YOUNG MAN, TROY, is driving down the highway, talking on his cell phone.**

**TROY**   
**Amy, I can't come over tonight. Because I've got work in the morning, that's why. ...Yeah, okay, I miss it and my dad's gonna have my ass.**

"Is he going to go missing as well?" Ziva guessed. "We wouldn't be shown this otherwise..."

The agents immediately stiffened, pens and papers poised to take as many notes as possible.

**A high-pitched whine. TROY looks over and sees a WOMAN in a white dress on the side of the road. She's moving as though dancing; she flickers, and for a moment she's gone.**

"Is that a spirit?" McGee sounded amazed.

The others observed her as well, since this was their first time actually seeing a supernatural being with their eyes.

**TROY**   
**Hey, ah, Amy, let me call you back?**

**MUSIC**   
**I got this feeling and it's deep in my bah-tay**   
**It gives me wiggles and it makes my rump shake**   
**I said ho!**

**TROY tries several times to turn off the radio, which is flickering. Nothing happens.**

**MUSIC**   
**If I should touch you**   
**Might be electrocuted**   
**I said ho!**   
**Deep in your body**

**TROY pulls up next to the WOMAN, whose dress is torn in several places, and stops, leaning across the shotgun seat.**

**TROY**   
**Car trouble or something?**

"There is no car in which she could have come from...." Ziva raised an eyebrow.

**A long pause.**

**WOMAN**   
**Take me home?**

**The voice is the same one from the altered voicemail. TROY opens the passenger door.**

**TROY**   
**Sure, get in.**

"He seems polite." Abby stated.

**The WOMAN, who is barefoot, climbs in and closes the door.**

**TROY**   
**So, where do you live?**

**WOMAN**   
**At the end of Breckenridge Road.**

**TROY nods.**

**TROY**   
**You coming from a Halloween party or something?**

**The WOMAN's dress is very low-cut. TROY notices, stares, and looks away, laughing nervously.**

"He has a girlfriend!" the forensic scientist bit back her previous words.

"Doesn't mean he deserves to die." Gibbs reminded.

**TROY**   
**You know, a girl like you really shouldn't be alone out here.**

**She looks at him mournfully, seductively, and pulls her skirt up over her thigh.**

**WOMAN**   
**I'm with you.**

**TROY looks away. The WOMAN takes TROY's chin and turns his face towards her.**

**WOMAN**   
**Do you think I'm pretty?**

"She's creepy..." McGee was doing his best to ignore her.

**TROY nods, eyes stuck on her cleavage.**

**TROY**   
**Uh...huh.**

**WOMAN**   
**Will you come home with me?**

**TROY**   
**Um. Hell yeah.**

**He drives off.**

"So, he couldn't spend time with his actual girlfriend, but he can make time for a girl he picked up off the side of the street?" Ziva looked repulsed.

**_EXT. ABANDONED HOUSE – NIGHT_ **

**They pull up to an old abandoned house at the end of a road. The WOMAN stares at it sadly.**

**TROY**   
**Come on. You don't live here.**

**WOMAN**   
**I can never go home.**

"That's what the EVP said..." Jimmy remembered.

**TROY**   
**What are you talking about? Nobody even lives here. Where do you live?**

**He turns, and she's gone. He checks the back seat, also empty, and gets out of the car, nervous.**

The agents groaned.

"He should have just left. The woman left, so his job is over..." Fornell muttered.

**TROY**   
**That's good. Joke's over, okay? You want me to leave?**

**TROY looks around: no signs of life except crickets. He walks towards the house.**

**TROY**   
**Hello? Hello?**

**There's a picture of the WOMAN and two CHILDREN inside the house; the picture is covered in dust.**

"That's the woman..." Abby observed. "I wonder what happened to the kids?"

**TROY peers through the hole in the screen door. A bird flies at his face, scaring him into falling over. He yells, leaps to his feet, and runs back to the car. He gets in and drives off.**

**_EXT. CENTENNIAL HIGHWAY – NIGHT_ **

**TROY looks behind him—no one's there—then in the rearview mirror. The WOMAN is in the back seat. TROY yells again and drives straight through a "Bridge Closed" sign, stopping about halfway across the bridge. He screams. Blood spatters the windows.**

The agents looked alarmed.

"Woah." McGee winced.

"He didn't really deserve that..." Abby looked guilty.

Gibbs added  _Troy _____ of Jericho, California_ to his list. He would add a last name if it came up.

There was a moment of silence for the man.

"We will have to move on." Vance started, "There will most likely be violent deaths of innocent people in every video we watch. We will respect them, but if we want to do anything with the information we are gathering, it will have to be quick." it was a tough decision to make, but it had to be done.


	5. Pilot - Act Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The NCIS team watch Act 2 of Pilot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing! The script has been altered to suit the story. Sorry if anyone is out of character. Also sorry for typos. Autocorrect is a monster.

###   **GAS STATION**

**_EXT. GAS STATION – DAY_ **

**It is 1 Nov 2005.**

**The Impala is parked in front of a pump. "Ramblin' Man" by the Allman Brothers plays.**

**MUSIC**   
**Lord, I was born a ramblin' man**

**DEAN comes out of the convenience mart carrying junk food.**

Ducky raised an eyebrow. "What is he doing with all that?"

"It is probably all they can afford..." McGee reminded him in a monotone voice.

**MUSIC**   
**Tryin' to make a livin' and doin' the best I can**

**SAM is sitting in the shotgun seat with the door open, rifling through a box of tapes.**

"Tapes?" Abby laughed. "How old fashioned! I love it!"

Gibbs smirked a bit. It was a bit refreshing to see people without the whatsits of today.

McGee looked alarmed. "They are in a serious need of an upgrade..."

**DEAN**   
**Hey!**

**SAM leans out and looks at him.**

**DEAN**   
**You want breakfast?**

"For breakfast?" Ducky grumbled under his breath.

"Dr. Mallard, if we do get to meet them, we can definitely get them better food." Palmer reminded.

**SAM**   
**No, thanks.**

**MUSIC**   
**And when it's time for leavin'**

**SAM**   
**So how'd you pay for that stuff?**

Vance looked slightly interested, wondering if a decision to "look the other way" would have to be made.

**MUSIC**   
**I hope you'll understand**

**SAM**   
**You and Dad still running credit card scams?**

The agents winced a bit.

"That is something I suppose we have to forgive." Vance decided.

**MUSIC**   
**That I was born a ramblin' man**

**DEAN**   
**Yeah, well, hunting ain't exactly a pro ball career.**

**DEAN puts the nozzle back on the pump.**

**DEAN**   
**Besides, all we do is apply. It's not our fault they send us the cards.**

Gibbs laughed slightly. "They are very good at loopholes."

Abby grinned. "I like his style."

**SAM**   
**Yeah? And what names did you write on the application this time?**

**SAM swings his legs back inside the car and closes the door.**

**DEAN**   
**Uh, Burt Aframian.**

"We should write this down too. Their aliases are important, just like when our agents go undercover." Vance announced.

Ziva wrote  _Burt Aframian_ under  _List of the Winchesters' Aliases_.

"How did they come up with that name? It is kind of odd." Jimmy mentioned.

"Perhaps they were just having a bit of fun making them. Although, the odd name is more likely to be remembered, so I'm surprised they didn't go with 'John Smith' or something similar." Ducky explained.

**DEAN gets into the driver seat and puts his soda and chips down.**

**DEAN**   
**And his son Hector. Scored two cards out of the deal.**

Ziva wrote down  _Hector Aframian_.

**DEAN closes the door.**

**SAM**   
**That sounds about right. I swear, man, you've gotta update your cassette tape collection.**

"Sam agrees with me!" McGee gestured violently.

Ziva laughed slightly. "That is another odd and memorable thing, though."

**There are at least a dozen cassettes in the box on SAM's lap; some have album art, others are hand-labeled.**

**DEAN**   
**Why?**

**SAM**   
**Well, for one, they're cassette tapes. And two.**

**SAM holds up a tape for every band he names.**

**SAM**   
**Black Sabbath? Motorhead? Metallica?**

"That sounds like something Tony would listen to..." Abby laughed cheerfully.

**DEAN takes the box labeled Metallica from SAM.**

**SAM**   
**It's the greatest hits of mullet rock.**

**DEAN**   
**Well, house rules, Sammy.**

Fornell raised an eyebrow at their 'house'. "Perhaps more suitable living accomodations could also be provided?"

Vance nodded. "That can be arranged. Although, they might not spend a lot of time there."

Abby gasped. "How did I not notice that before?!"

"You were focussing on everything else." Gibbs explained comfortingly.

**DEAN pops the tape in the player.**

**DEAN**   
**Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole.**

The agents laughed together.

"They really do sound like brothers." McGee smiled.

"You and Tony sometimes act similar." Ziva pointed out.

McGee looked startled before grinning.

**DEAN drops the Metallica box back in the box of tapes and starts the engine.**

**SAM**   
**You know, Sammy is a chubby twelve-year-old.**

**AC/DC's "Back in Black" begins to play.**

**SAM**   
**It's Sam, okay?**

"So he doesn't like the name Sam, but he used to be called it." Ducky analyzed. "Dean still tends to subconsciously think of him as 'Sammy'." he continued to think.

**DEAN**   
**Sorry, I can't hear you, the music's too loud.**

Abby laughed agains, thinking about how Tony would have said something similar. From this angle, it was clear that they were brothers.

**DEAN drives off.**

###  ** CENTENNIAL HIGHWAY **

**_EXT. CENTENNIAL HIGHWAY – DAY_ **

**MUSIC**   
**Back in black**   
**I hit the sack**   
**I've been too long**   
**I'm glad to be back**   
**Yes I'm let loose**

**They drive past a sign that says "JERICHO 7".**

**MUSIC**   
**From the noose**   
**That's kept me hanging about**

**Sam is talking on his cell phone.**

**SAM**   
**Thank you.**

**SAM closes his phone.**

**MUSIC**   
**Lookin' at the sky**   
**'Cause it's gettin' me high**

**SAM**   
**All right. So, there's no one matching Dad at the hospital or morgue.**

"That is reassuring I suppose." McGee sighed.

"He doesn't die here..." Fornell mumbled, and Gibbs nodded.

**MUSIC**   
**Forget the hearse 'cause I'll never die**

**SAM**   
**So that's something, I guess.**

**DEAN glances over at SAM, then back at the road. At a bridge ahead of them, there are two police cars and several officers.**

"Are they going to a crime scene?" Ziva inquired.

"We will forgive them of all the trespassing they do as well. Including crime scenes and private property." Vance decided.

**MUSIC**   
**I got nine lives**   
**Cat's eyes**   
**Abusin' every one of them and running wild**

**DEAN**   
**Check it out.**

**SAM leans forward for a closer look.**

**MUSIC**   
**'Cause I'm back**   
**Yes I'm back**

**DEAN pulls over. They take a long look before DEAN turns off the engine. Kid Gloves Music's "My Cheatin' Ways" begins to play. DEAN opens the glove compartment and pulls out a box full of ID cards with his and JOHN's faces: visible ones include FBI and DEA. He picks one out and grins at SAM, who stares.**

The agents stared in shock.

"I know we are forgiving them for this stuff, but what about the creator of those badges? Either there is a problem with all the agencies that needs to be sorted out, or there is a really good forger that needs to be caught." McGee pointed out.

"We will keep an eye out for them, but it is possible that it is just another hunter that will be forgiven." Vance stared after a moment of silence.

The agents also put all the lists on the coffee table so that anyone could write something down if someone missed something or they deem it important.

**DEAN**   
**Let's go.**

**DEAN gets out of the car.**

**On the bridge, the lead DEPUTY, DEPUTY JAFFE, leans over the railing to yell down to two MEN in wetsuits who were poking around the river.**

"They searching for the body?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

McGee nodded, slightly in shock as his boss had not spoken in a while.

**JAFFE**   
**You guys find anything?**

**MAN**   
**No! Nothing!**

**JAFFE turns back to the car in the middle of the bridge. It's familiar: it's TROY's, the blood gone. Another DEPUTY, DEPUTY HEIN, is at the driver's side looking around inside the car.**

"Where did all the evidence go?" Abby exclaimed.

"Perhaps that woman cleaned everything up...made it all disappear. It is worth noting." McGee thought out loud as Ziva copied it down.

**HEIN**   
**No sign of struggle, no footprints, no fingerprints. Spotless. It's almost too clean.**

**DEAN and SAM walk into the crime scene like they belong there.**

"They are very good at acting....probabmy had years of experience. Tony's good as well..." Ducky continued.

Palmer nodded in agreement.

**JAFFE**   
**So, this kid Troy. He's dating your daughter, isn't he?**

**HEIN**   
**Yeah.**

**JAFFE**   
**How's Amy doing?**

"Poor Amy....she doesn't know he was planning on cheating on her..." Abby winced.

"And she doesn't have to." Gibbs said firmly.

**HEIN**   
**She's putting up missing posters downtown.**

**DEAN**   
**You fellas had another one like this just last month, didn't you?**

"He's very confident." McGee smirked slightly.

**JAFFE looks up when DEAN starts talking and straightens up to talk to him.**

**JAFFE**   
**And who are you?**

**DEAN flashes his badge.**

**DEAN**   
**Federal marshals.**

**JAFFE**   
**You two are a little young for marshals, aren't you?**

"That is right." Fornell narrowed his eyes.

**DEAN laughs.**

**DEAN**   
**Thanks, that's awfully kind of you.**

**DEAN goes over to the car.**

**DEAN**   
**You did have another one just like this, correct?**

**JAFFE**   
**Yeah, that's right. About a mile up the road. There've been others before that.**

**SAM**   
**So, this victim, you knew him?**

**JAFFE nods.**

**JAFFE**   
**Town like this, everybody knows everybody.**

Gibbs nodded, thinking about Stillwater and his father. Everyone really did know everyone.

**DEAN circles the car, looking around.**

**DEAN**   
**Any connection between the victims, besides that they're all men?**

"Troy was attacked after she lured him in. He was planning on cheating." McGee hypothesized.

"And if he was planning on doing it then, he probably did it before." Ducky added.

"The woman would go after similar men, right?" Ziva questioned. "Maybe the are all cheaters."

Jimmy wrote that down. "We can clarify when we know exactly what she is."

**JAFFE**   
**No. Not so far as we can tell.**

**SAM**   
**So what's the theory?**

**SAM goes over to DEAN.**

**JAFFE**   
**Honestly, we don't know. Serial murder? Kidnapping ring?**

**DEAN**   
**Well, that is exactly the kind of crack police work I'd expect out of you guys.**

Fornell snorted, before remembering that he was probably including the FBI too.

**SAM stomps on DEAN's foot.**

"And there is that brotherly love." Abby stated dramatically.

**SAM**   
**Thank you for your time.**

**SAM starts to walk away. DEAN follows.**

**SAM**   
**Gentlemen.**

**JAFFE watches them go. DEAN smacks SAM on the head.**

The agents looked shocked, and Gibbs nodded in approval, even though he didn't agree with the timing.

"Dean just Gibbs-slapped Sam!" Abby cheered.

"He probably got that from Tony, yes? After he started working at NCIS?" Ziva inquired.

"Probably," McGee nodded.

**SAM**   
**Ow! What was that for?**

**DEAN**   
**Why'd you have to step on my foot?**

**SAM**   
**Why do you have to talk to the police like that?**

"Answering a question with a question...tricky!" the forensic scientist smirked.

**DEAN looks at SAM and moves in front of him, forcing SAM to stop walking.**

**DEAN**   
**Come on. They don't really know what's going on. We're all alone on this. I mean, if we're going to find Dad we've got to get to the bottom of this thing ourselves.**

**SAM clears his throat and looks over DEAN's shoulder. DEAN turns. It's SHERIFF PIERCE and two FBI AGENTS.**

**SHERIFF**   
**Can I help you boys?**

**DEAN**   
**No, sir, we were just leaving.**

"Those agents are suspicious of them." Fornell noted.

"You think they are going to get caught?" Gibbs asked.

"I know they are. I've gone over everything on them already."

**As the FBI AGENTS walk past DEAN, he nods at each of them.**

**DEAN**   
**Agent Mulder. Agent Scully.**

McGee snorted slightly as both Ziva and Gibbs looked confused. "You two haven't watched X-Files?" he gasped.

They both shook their heads.

"Okay, I get why Gibbs wouldn't have seen it," his boss shot him a glare and he winced. "But you, Ziva? I thought Tony was working on that."

"I suppose we haven't gotten to that yet."

**DEAN and SAM head past the SHERIFF, who turns to watch them go.**

###  ** JERICHO **

**_EXT. STREET – DAY_ **

**The marquee on the Highland Movie Theater reads:**

**EMERGENCY TOWN HALL MEETING**   
**SUNDAY 8 PM**   
**BE SAFE OUT THERE**

**A YOUNG WOMAN is tacking up posters with TROY's face and the caption "MISSING TROY SQUIRE". DEAN and SAM approach.**

Gibbs added the last name  _Squire_ to the paper in the blank space.

**DEAN**   
**I'll bet you that's her.**

**SAM**   
**Yeah.**

**DEAN and SAM walk up to the YOUNG WOMAN.**

**DEAN**   
**You must be Amy.**

The agents winced. They never liked this part.

**AMY**   
**Yeah.**

**DEAN**   
**Yeah, Troy told us about you. We're his uncles. I'm Dean, this is Sammy.**

"Dean called him 'Sammy' again..." McGee noted.

**AMY**   
**He never mentioned you to me.**

**AMY walks away. DEAN and SAM walk with her.**

**DEAN**   
**Well, that's Troy, I guess. We're not around much, we're up in Modesto.**

"They are familiar with geography, I'll give them that." Fornell grumbled.

**SAM**   
**So, we're looking for him too, and we're kinda asking around.**

**Another YOUNG WOMAN, RACHEL, comes up to AMY and puts a hand on her arm.**

**RACHEL**   
**Hey, are you okay?**

**AMY**   
**Yeah.**

**SAM**   
**You mind if we ask you a couple questions?**

"They won't be able to get very good questions in if they are only uncles..." Ziva pointed out.

**Another poster that says MISSING TROY SQUIRE flaps in the breeze.**

**_INT. DINER – DAY_ **

**The four of them are sitting in a booth, DEAN and SAM opposite AMY and RACHEL.**

**AMY**   
**I was on the phone with Troy. He was driving home. He said he would call me right back, and...he never did.**

"But they can get good information." McGee grinned.

"They are really good...very persuasive." Ziva noted.

**SAM**   
**He didn't say anything strange, or out of the ordinary?**

**AMY shakes her head.**

**AMY**   
**No. Nothing I can remember.**

**SAM**   
**I like your necklace.**

"That is an abrupt change...." Jimmy frowned. "I wonder what it was about."

**AMY holds the pendant she's wearing, a pentagram in a circle, and looks down at it.**

**AMY**   
**Troy gave it to me. Mostly to scare my parents—**

**AMY laughs.**

**AMY**   
**—with all that devil stuff.**

The agents looked shocked...they were talking about devil stuff, and things like that were happening now?

**SAM laughs a little and looks down, then up. DEAN looks over.**

**SAM**   
**Actually, it means just the opposite. A pentagram is protection against evil. Really powerful. I mean, if you believe in that kind of thing.**

"They would know a lot about that, wouldn't they?" Abby looked intrigued. "I'd love to have a conversation with them...."

**DEAN**   
**Okay. Thank you, Unsolved Mysteries.**

**DEAN takes his arm off the back of SAM's seat and leans forward.**

**DEAN**   
**Here's the deal, ladies. The way Troy disappeared, something's not right. So if you've heard anything...**

**AMY and RACHEL look at each other.**

**DEAN**   
**What is it?**

**RACHEL**   
**Well, it's just... I mean, with all these guys going missing, people talk.**

**DEAN and SAM speak in chorus.**

**DEAN and SAM**   
**What do they talk about?**

"Brothers are creepy when they do that..." McGee shuddered.

**RACHEL**   
**It's kind of this local legend. This one girl? She got murdered out on Centennial, like decades ago.**

"Could she be the woman earlier?" Ziva asked.

"It is possible." Ducky agreed. "The dead have ways of speaking, you know."

McGee looked alarmed, wondering if Ducky and the dead held actual conversations.

**DEAN looks at SAM, who watches RACHEL attentively, nodding.**

**RACHEL**   
**Well, supposedly she's still out there.**

**SAM nods.**

**RACHEL**   
**She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up? Well, they disappear forever.**

"That confirms the cheater theory." Ziva mentioned.

**SAM and DEAN look at each other.**

###  ** LIBRARY **

**_INT. LIBRARY – DAY_ **

**A web browser is open to the archive search page for the _Jericho Herald_. The words "Female Murder Hitchhiking" are typed into the search box. DEAN clicks GO; the screen tells him there are "(0) Result". DEAN replaces "Hitchhiking" with "Centennial Highway" with the same response. SAM is sitting next to him, watching.**

**SAM**   
**Let me try.**

**DEAN smacks SAM's hand.**

"Such affection." Abby said sarcastically.

**DEAN**   
**I got it.**

**SAM shoves DEAN's chair out of the way and takes over.**

She burst out laughing.

"Seeing siblings act like this makes her happy." McGee explained, not taking his eyes off the screen.

**DEAN**   
**Dude!**

**DEAN hits SAM in the shoulder.**

**DEAN**   
**You're such a control freak.**

Abby grinned hugely.

**SAM**   
**So angry spirits are born out of violent death, right?**

Jimmy wrote that down under  _Spirits_.

**DEAN**   
**Yeah.**

**SAM**   
**Well, maybe it's not murder.**

**SAM replaces "Murder" with "Suicide" and finds an article entitled "Suicide on Centennial". DEAN glances at SAM. SAM opens the article, dated April 25, 1981.**

"If Dean is anything like Tony, he's probaboy had he didn't find it, yet relieved that it was found." Ziva mentioned.

    **A local woman's drowning death was ruled a suicide, the county Sheriff's Department said earlier today. Constance Welch, 24, of 4636 Breckenridge Road, leapt off Sylvania Bridge, at mile 33 of Centennial Highway, and subsequently drowned last night.**

    **Deputy J. Pierce told reporters that, hours before her death, Ms. Welch logged a call with 911 emergency services. In a panicked tone, Ms. Welch described how she found her two young children, 5 and 6, in the bathtub, after leaving them alone for several [minutes]. She reported that their complex-[...]**

    **What happened to my children was a terrible accident. And it must have been too much for my wife. Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it," said husband Joseph Welch. "Now I ask that you all please respect my privacy during this trying time."**

    **At the time of the children's death and Ms. Welch's subsequent suicide, Mr. Welch was at the Frontier auto salvage yard, where he works the graveyard shift as associate manager.**

    **"Connie might have been quiet, but she was the sweetest, most caring girl I ever knew," said Deanna Kripke, a neighbor. "She just doted on those children."**

Gibbs scrawled the name  _Constance Welch of Jericho, California_ under  _List of Spirits_.

**SAM**

**This was 1981. Constance Welch, twenty-four years old, jumps off Sylvania Bridge, drowns in the river.**

**There's a picture of CONSTANCE; it's the WOMAN who killed TROY.**

**DEAN**   
**Does it say why she did it?**

**SAM**   
**Yeah.**

**DEAN**   
**What?**

**SAM**   
**An hour before they found her, she calls 911. Apparently her two little kids are in the bathtub. She leaves them alone for a minute, and when she comes back, they aren't breathing. Both die.**

**DEAN raises his eyebrows.**

"I bet Dean is figuring something out right now." Abby said excitedly.

**DEAN**   
**Hm.**

**The article has a picture of Joseph next to a picture of Sylvania Bridge; it's the place TROY died.**

**SAM**   
**"'Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it,' said husband Joseph Welch."**

**DEAN**   
**The bridge look familiar to you?**

The agents nodded, following the case.

###  ** SYLVANIA BRIDGE **

**_EXT. SYLVANIA BRIDGE – NIGHT_ **

**DEAN and SAM walk along the bridge, then stop to lean on the railing and look down at the river.**

**DEAN**   
**So this is where Constance took the swan dive.**

The agents winced at the uncaring attitude before thinking that they probably did this a lot from a very young age.

**SAM**   
**So you think Dad would have been here?**

**SAM looks over at DEAN.**

**DEAN**   
**Well, he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him.**

**DEAN continues walking. SAM follows.**

**SAM**   
**Okay, so now what?**

**DEAN**   
**Now we keep digging until we find him. Might take a while.**

Fornell nodded. He remembered that part in the case file. The Winchesters were good at hiding their tracks, but they still appeared from time to time.

**SAM stops.**

**SAM**   
**Dean, I told you, I've gotta get back by Monday—**

**DEAN turns around.**

**DEAN**   
**Monday. Right. The interview.**

"Dean really doesn't want to lose Sam again..." Ducky sighed. "As I said earlier, they are very dependent on each other."

**SAM**   
**Yeah.**

**DEAN**   
**Yeah, I forgot. You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl?**

The agents sadly shook their heads, knowing that that was not and likely will never be the case.

**SAM**   
**Maybe. Why not?**

**DEAN**   
**Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done?**

**SAM steps closer.**

**SAM**   
**No, and she's not ever going to know.**

"Isn't that unhealthy for a relationship?" Ziva asked.

"Yes, secrets are generally a bad thing." McGee nodded.

**DEAN**   
**Well, that's healthy. You can pretend all you want, Sammy. But sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are.**

**DEAN turns around and keeps walking. SAM follows.**

**SAM**   
**And who's that?**

**DEAN**   
**You're one of us.**

**SAM hurries to get in front of DEAN.**

**SAM**   
**No. I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life.**

"He really does seem to want out...." Ducky sighed. "But every time he tries, he gets thrown back in!"

**DEAN**   
**You have a responsibility to—**

**SAM**   
**To Dad? And his crusade? If it weren't for pictures I wouldn't even know what Mom looks like. And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone. And she isn't coming back.**

**DEAN grabs SAM by the collar and shoves him up against the railing of the bridge. A long pause.**

The agents winced, noting that their mother was a touchy subject.

**DEAN**   
**Don't talk about her like that.**

**DEAN releases SAM and walks away. He sees CONSTANCE standing at the edge of the bridge.**

"Uh oh...." Abby looked worried.

**DEAN**   
**Sam.**

**SAM comes to stand next to DEAN. CONSTANCE looks over at them, then steps forward off the edge. SAM and DEAN run to the railing and look over.**

**DEAN**   
**Where'd she go?**

**SAM**   
**I don't know.**

"She probably disappeared again." Fornell muttered.

**Behind them, the Impala's engine starts and its headlights come on. DEAN and SAM turn to look.**

**DEAN**   
**What the—**

**SAM**   
**Who's driving your car?**

**DEAN pulls the keys out of his pocket and jingles them. SAM glances at them. The car jerks into motion, heading straight for them. They turn and run.**

"That is kind of like a cartoon, is it not?" Ziva inquired.

"Yup," Abby agreed.

**SAM**   
**Dean? Go! Go!**

**The car is moving faster than they are; when it gets too close, SAM and DEAN dive over the railing. The car comes to a halt.**

"I hope that they were okay..." Abby sighed.

They watched as the screen went black, waiting for the next part to come up.


	6. Pilot - Act Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The NCIS team watch Act 3 of Pilot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing! Sorry if anyone is out of character, and I altered the script to make it fit the story.

###  ** SYLVANIA BRIDGE **

**_EXT. SYLVANIA BRIDGE – NIGHT_ **

**Establishing shot of the bridge.**

**SAM has caught himself on the edge of the bridge and is hanging on. He pulls himself up onto the bridge and looks around.**

"Impressive." Abby whistled.

 **SAM**  
**Dean? Dean!**

**Below, a filthy and annoyed DEAN crawls out of the water and onto the mud, panting.**

"That is not so impressive." McGee wrinkled his nose.

"He's filthy!" Jimmy cringed, looking at all the mud covering him.

Fornell spoke up, "How come Dean survived the fall off Sylvania Bridge when Constance did not?"

"You could say that Dean was lucky and Constance was not." Ducky explained. "Falling is risky; there is no way to guarantee survival."

 **DEAN**  
**What?**

 **SAM**  
**Hey! Are you all right?**

**DEAN holds up one hand in an A-OK sign.**

**DEAN**  
**I'm super.**

"Somehow, I doubt that." Abby winced. "I would be so annoyed if that happened to me."

"I think he meant injury-wise." McGee mentioned.

"Probably, but my comment still holds true."

**SAM laughs, relieved, and scoots away from the edge.**

**_EXT. SYLVANIA BRIDGE – NIGHT, LATER_ **

**DEAN shuts the hood of his car and leans on it.**

**SAM**  
**Your car all right?**

 **DEAN**  
**Yeah, whatever she did to it, seems all right now. That Constance chick, what a _bitch_!**

"At least we have his priorities straightened out." Ziva deadpanned.

"He could probably easily get a shower and more clothes, but cars are more difficult to replace. And with all their weapons...." Vance addressed.

 **SAM**  
**Well, she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure. So where's the job go from here, genius?**

**SAM settles on the hood next to DEAN. DEAN throws up his arms in frustration, then flicks mud off his hands. SAM sniffs, then looks at DEAN.**

**SAM**  
**You smell like a toilet.**

Abby laughed. "They're brothers, all right."

**DEAN looks down.**

###  ** MOTEL **

**_INT. MOTEL LOBBY – DAY_ **

**It is 2 Nov 2005.**

**A VersaBank MasterCard in the name of Hector Aframian lands on a handwritten guest ledger.**

**DEAN**  
**One room, please.**

**DEAN is standing at the motel check-in desk, still filthy, with SAM right behind him. The CLERK picks up the card and looks at it.**

"Is Dean going to be accepted into that motel? He's covered in mud...." McGee grimaced.

"Why wouldn't they let him in?" Ziva inquired.

"Some motels don't let super dirty people in." He shrugged.

"Motel looks crappy." Gibbs noted. "I doubt they'll kick them out."

"Money's money to them." Fornell finished.

 **CLERK**  
**You guys having a reunion or something?**

 **SAM**  
**What do you mean?**

 **CLERK**  
**I had another guy, Burt Aframian. He came and bought out a room for the whole month.**

"John must have been expecting to stay for a while." Vance briefly mentioned.

"But he's missing, remember? If Dean needed Sam to find him, then I doubt he is still there." Abby countered.

**DEAN looks back at SAM.**

###  ** JOHN'S ROOM **

**_INT. MOTEL ROOM – DAY_ **

**The motel door swings open. SAM is on the other side, having just picked the lock. SAM hides the picks and stands up. DEAN is just outside, playing lookout, until SAM reaches out of the room to grab his shoulder and yank him inside. SAM closes the door behind them. They look around—every vertical surface has papers pinned to it: maps, newspaper clippings, pictures, notes. There are books on the desk and assorted junk on the floor and bed, including something with a hazardous-materials symbol.**

"Woah..." Abby looked at all the work.

"That must have taken so much time.....you think we can get some equipment to help it go faster? Like, you know, the whole "it will kill more as time goes on" thing?" McGee inquired.

"We could work on that...." Vance nodded.

 **SAM**  
**Whoa.**

**DEAN turns on a light by the bed and picks up a half-eaten hamburger sitting there. SAM steps over a line of salt on the floor. DEAN sniffs the burger and recoils.**

"Ew...." Abby wrinkled her nose.

"John hasn't been there for a while...." Ziva noticed.

 **DEAN**  
**I don't think he's been here for a couple days at least.**

**SAM fingers the salt on the floor and looks up.**

**SAM**  
**Salt, cats-eye shells...he was worried. Trying to keep something from coming in.**

Jimmy wrote down the two things onto his list.

"Cats-eye shells..." McGee looked disgusted. "You think some things include blood or bones?"

"Most likely." Abby stated confidently. "Although, the baddies would be more likely to use it, I guess."

**DEAN looks at the papers covering one wall.**

**SAM**  
**What have you got here?**

 **DEAN**  
**Centennial Highway victims.**

The agents narrowed their eyes. Just how many people could be killed by one spirit or demon? How big was this problem?

**SAM nods. The victims seen on the wall include Mark somebody, William Durrell, Scott Nifong who disappeared in 1987 at age 25, and somebody Parks. Mark, Durrell, and Nifong are all white males, judging by the photos.**

Gibbs quickly wrote down  _Mark ______ of Jericho, California, William Durrell of Jericho, California, Scott Nifong of Jericho, California, and _______ Parks of Jericho, California._

"There isn't a lot to go on for a lot of them..." Ziva winced. "Finding their loved ones will be hard."

"What if they don't have any loved ones?" McGee inquired.

"We'll get to that at the time." Gibbs groaned. He didn't want them to go by unnoticed, but who could they tell without getting thrown in a mental asylum?

 **DEAN**  
**I don't get it. I mean, different men, different jobs—**

**SAM crosses the room.**

**DEAN**  
**—ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection, right? What do these guys have in common?**

"Cheaters...." Abby whispered under her breath.

**While DEAN talks, SAM looks at the papers taped to the other walls. There's something about the Bell Witch, two people being burned alive, a skeletal person blowing a horn at several scared people with the note "MORTIS DANSE", a column about "Devils + Demons", another about "Sirens, Witches, the possessed", a wooden pentacle, and a note that says "Woman in White" above a printout of the _Jericho Herald_ article on CONSTANCE's suicide.**

Jimmy wrote  _Woman in White_ down. "Are Women in White different than normal spirits?"

The others just shrugged.

**SAM turns on another lamp.**

**SAM**  
**Dad figured it out.**

**DEAN turns to look.**

**DEAN**  
**What do you mean?**

 **SAM**  
**He found the same article we did. Constance Welch. She's a woman in white.**

**DEAN looks at the photos of CONSTANCE's victims.**

**DEAN**  
**You sly dogs.**

Ducky looked startled. "That is one way to put it, I suppose."

"He's just like Tony." Abby laughed.

**DEAN turns back to SAM.**

**DEAN**  
**All right, so if we're dealing with a woman in white, Dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it.**

"So that is how you kill them...." Abby sighed as Jimmy wrote that down. "What happens to them afterwards? They are already dead...."

Gibbs comforted her. "We might find out soon." he concluded.

 **SAM**  
**She might have another weakness.**

 **DEAN**  
**Well, Dad would want to make sure.**

"Not if he wanted their attention." Ducky explained.

"Why couldn't he just call them or something?" Abby looked furious. "People have died because he disappeared before finishing the job!"

The agents seethed.

**DEAN crosses to SAM.**

**DEAN**  
**He'd dig her up. Does it say where she's buried?**

 **SAM**  
**No, not that I can tell. If I were Dad, though, I'd go ask her husband.**

**SAM taps the picture of JOSEPH WELCH. The caption says he's thirty; the article dates to 1981, so he must be sixty-four.**

"That poor man." Ziva mentioned. "His wife, who he thinks is dead, is out killing lots of people. And if spirits were born out of a violent death, he would never really have gotten over it, yeah?"

Gibbs couldn't help but become more and more paranoid as time went on. If spirits were born out of a violent death, what happened to his girls? Shannon and Kelly? He would definitely say that their deaths were violent since it was a car crash.

Another chilling thought touched him. He shot Hernandez....would that qualify as a violent enough death for him to come back? Is that son of a bitch killing more people? And if that qualified, what about Kate? Ari? Mike? Jenny? Even his mother maybe.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of his thoughts, but it was to no avail. Ducky eyed him with growing concern.

 **SAM**  
**If he's still alive.**

**SAM goes to look at something else. DEAN looks at the picture below the _Herald_ article, of a woman in a white dress.**

**DEAN**  
**All right. Why don't you, uh, see if you can find an address, I'm gonna get cleaned up.**

"Finally." Abby sighed dramatically.

**DEAN starts to walk away. SAM turns.**

**SAM**  
**Hey, Dean?**

**DEAN stops and turns back.**

**SAM**  
**What I said earlier, about Mom and Dad, I'm sorry.**

**DEAN holds up a hand.**

**DEAN**  
**No chick-flick moments.**

"So he doesn't like talking about emotional stuff." Ziva frowned. "Isn't that unhealthy?"

"It is." Ducky agreed.

**SAM laughs and nods.**

**SAM**  
**All right. Jerk.**

 **DEAN**  
**Bitch.**

**SAM laughs again. DEAN disappears, presumably into the bathroom. SAM notices something, his smile disappearing, and crosses over for a closer look. A rosary hangs in front of a large mirror, and stuck into the mirror frame is a photo of JOHN sitting on the hood of the Impala, next to a BOY in a baseball cap who is presumably DEAN and with a YOUNGER BOY, presumably SAM, on JOHN's lap. TONY is standing next to them.  SAM takes the photo off the mirror and holds it, smiling sadly.**

"I didn't think he would keep any pictures." McGee looked surprised.

###  ** MOTEL **

**_INT. MOTEL ROOM – DAY, LATER_ **

**SAM paces, holding his phone, and sits down on the bed. A voicemail message is playing.**

**JESS**  
**Hey, it's me, it's about ten-twenty Saturday night—**

**DEAN, clean again, comes out of the bathroom and grabs his jacket. He shrugs it on one shoulder as he crosses the room.**

**DEAN**  
**Hey, man. I'm starving, I'm gonna grab a little something to eat in that diner down the street. You want anything?**

Ducky shook his head. As a doctor, he really disapproved of Dean's eating habits, but he couldn't really blame them. It wasn't like they could afford much else.

 **SAM**  
**No.**

 **DEAN**  
**Aframian's buying.**

**SAM shakes his head.**

**SAM**  
**Mm-mm.**

**_EXT. PARKING LOT – DAY_ **

**DEAN leaves the motel room. He gets the jacket the rest of the way on as he crosses the lot. He looks over and sees a police car, where the MOTEL CLERK is talking to DEPUTY JAFFE and DEPUTY HEIN. The CLERK points at DEAN, who turns away and pulls out his cell phone.**

"And they've been caught." Fornell announced.

"Wonderful." McGee groaned.

**_INT. MOTEL ROOM – DAY_ and _EXT. PARKING LOT – DAY_ , alternating**

**SAM is sitting on the bed, still listening to the message.**

**JESS**  
**So come home soon, okay? I love you.**

**The phone beeps. SAM looks at it and presses a button, then puts it back to his ear.**

**SAM**  
**What?**

**Outside, the DEPUTIES are approaching DEAN.**

**DEAN**  
**Dude, five-oh, take off.**

"What is 'five-oh'?" Ziva asked.

"The police." Abby explained.

**SAM stands up.**

**SAM**  
**What about you?**

 **DEAN**  
**Uh, they kinda spotted me. Go find Dad.**

**DEAN hangs up the phone as the DEPUTIES approach. He turns and grins at them.**

"He is certainly good at acting." Vance twitched his lips.

 **DEAN**  
**Problem, officers?**

 **JAFFE**  
**Where's your partner?**

 **DEAN**  
**Partner? What, what partner?**

"Don't the officers already know that Sam was with him?" McGee inquired.

"He's trying to allow time for Sam to get away." Gibbs explained.

**JAFFE glances over his shoulder and jerks his thumb towards the motel room. HEIN heads over there. DEAN fidgets.**

**SAM sees HEIN approaching and darts away from the window.**

**JAFFE**  
**So. Fake US Marshal. Fake credit cards. You got anything that's real?**

 **DEAN**  
**My boobs.**

The agents shared a quickly laugh.

"That sounds just like something Tony would say." McGee grinned.

"Brothers think alike, I suppose." Ziva agreed.

**DEAN grins.**

**HEIN slams Dean over the hood of the cop car.**

**JAFFE**  
**You have the right to remain silent—**

"That is unfortunate." Abby turned to Fornell. "But you already knew that happened. We haven't had enough time to go over evidence...."

Fornell interrupted. "Yes, I knew this was going to happen. Yes, he did somehow escape."

The agents sighed in unison as the television started once more.


	7. Pilot - Act Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The NCIS team watch "Pilot" Act Four.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing! Sorry if anyone is out of character. I altered the script to fit with the story, and I will try to put more Tony in. It is just kinda hard to find places to do that, you know? He should definitely make more of an appearance on 'Wendigo.' Unfortunately, I couldn't find anywhere for him in this chapter. But I will ASAP!

**_INT. SHERIFF'S OFFICE – DAY_ **

**SHERIFF PIERCE enters the room, carrying a box. He sets the box on the table at which DEAN sits and goes around the table to face DEAN across it.**

**SHERIFF**  
**So you want to give us your real name?**

**DEAN**  
**I told you, it's Nugent. Ted Nugent.**

The NCIS team except Ziva looked at each other for a brief moment before laughing.

"Who is Ted Nugent?" she inquired, looking to her coworkers.

"He's an American musician." Gibbs waved off.

McGee whispered in what he thought was a quiet voice to Abby. "Gibbs knows who he is?"

"I wasn't born centuries ago." Gibbs looked annoyed. "I do know who he is."

"Sorry, boss; I didn't mean it like that." the tech wiz rushed to explain.

"Whatever, McGee."

McGee was astonished. He didn't even get slapped over the head!

"So, Dean Winchester is using a rock star alias to lie to police?" Ziva inquired.

"Yup," Abby responded. "It doesn't seem to be working well, though. Well-known people generally are not the best to steal names from."

"Tony'd do it." McGee mentioned with a blank look on his face.

The agents laughed at that. It was true; he definitely would. Once while undercover, he had begged Jenny to let him use the name 'Frank Sinatra.'

He didn't get to use it.

**SHERIFF**  
**I'm not sure you realize just how much trouble you're in here.**

**DEAN**  
**We talkin', like, misdemeanor kind of trouble or, uh, squeal like a pig trouble?**

"Squeal like a pig." Fornell narrowed his eyes at the television.

**SHERIFF**  
**You got the faces of ten missing persons taped to your wall.**

"Are they still technically suspects in those cases?" Abby asked as she hadn't gone through everything yet.

"I believe so." Fornell answered after a moment of thought. "They escaped from Jericho, though, and the police never found them. I'm guessing that they are assuming they are dead. They were, however, never tried in a court for anything technically, so it is possible that either the case went cold or the police officers are looking for someone else to stick the blame on."

**DEAN looks away.**

**SHERIFF**  
**Along with a whole lot of Satanic mumbo-jumbo. Boy, you are officially a suspect.**

"If the police bothered to do their job properly, they would have known it wasn't satanic." Abby looked furious.

**DEAN**  
**That makes sense. Because when the first one went missing in '82 I was three.**

Vance laughed, "It does sound kind of ridiculous when it is put like that."

"There is still John Winchester, though, and the pictures were in his room." Jimmy mentioned.

**SHERIFF**  
**I know you've got partners. One of 'em's an older guy. Maybe he started the whole thing. So tell me. Dean.**

**The SHERIFF tosses a brown leather-covered journal on the table.**

"What's that?" Abby looked interested.

"It obviously has some connection to the Winchesters," Ducky began to explain, "Most likely John since we haven't seen it before. But why would a hunter keep a notebook? It is likely that hunters take notes too as time goes on. Just things like how to kill different creatures, signs, and possibly contact information."

"So, we are basically completing hunter kindergarten right now?" Jimmy gestured to the notes lying on the coffee table.

"Yes, dear lad, it appears that we are."

**SHERIFF**  
**This his?**

**DEAN stares at it. The SHERIFF sits on the edge of the table. He flips through the journal: it's filled with newspaper clippings, notes, and pictures, just like what's on the walls of JOHN's motel room.**

Ducky gave a laugh; he always enjoyed it when he guessed correctly.

**SHERIFF**  
**I thought that might be your name. See, I leafed through this. What little I could make out—I mean, it's nine kinds of crazy.**

**DEAN leans forward for a closer look.**

**SHERIFF**  
**But I found this, too.**

**He opens the journal to a page that reads "DEAN 35-111", circled, with nothing else on that page.**

"Did John write in a message for Dean?" Ziva looked outraged. "That means that he knew Dean would come for him, so he knew he'd be missing!"

The NCIS team looked angry.

"What's the number for?" Jimmy inquired.

Abby thought it over. "A code of some sorts?"

"I don't think so," McGee disagreed.

"Maybe it has some significance in different cultures to relay a sort of message?" Ziva guessed.

They shrugged.

"Mathematical significance?" she pressed.

"Maybe it is the standard English construction of small cardinal numbers." Abby looked excited.

The agents kept on hypothesizing for a few moments before Gibbs interrupted.

"Maybe, they are coordinates." he deadpanned, surprising them. "John was a Marine, remember?"

"Oh..." Abby grinned. "Do you think that means he is telling them where he had to go?"

Gibbs shrugged.

**SHERIFF**  
**Now. You're stayin' right here till you tell me exactly what the hell that means.**

**DEAN stares down at the page, then looks up.**

###  ** WELCH HOUSE **

**_INT. HOUSE – DAY_ **

**SAM, seen through the chain-link covering a grimy glass window, knocks on the door the window is in. An OLD MAN opens it: it's recognizably JOSEPH WELCH.**

"I don't think Joseph Welch will take too kindly to Sam." Ziva winced.

McGee nodded before turning to Vance. "Do you think we should tell him about Constance?"

"Perhaps," Vance considered it. "What do you think, Dr. Mallard?"

"It may be kinder to leave him in the dark. He already lost his family; what would happen to him if he was told his wife was killing people from beyond the grave?" Ducky responded.

The agents nodded.

**SAM**  
**Hi. Are you Joseph Welch?**

**JOSEPH**  
**Yeah.**

**_EXT. DRIVEWAY – DAY_ **

**SAM and JOSEPH are walking down the junk-filled driveway, JOSEPH holding the photo SAM found on JOHN's motel room mirror.**

"So, they are still looking for their father." Jimmy declared.

**JOSEPH**  
**Yeah, he was older, but that's him.**

**JOSEPH hands the photo back to SAM.**

**JOSEPH**  
**He came by three or four days ago. Said he was a reporter.**

The agents raised an eyebrow in unison. It seemed that the Winchesters were really good at lying.

**SAM**  
**That's right. We're working on a story together.**

They looked startled again.

"They are really good at switching from one story to another." Ziva commented.

**JOSEPH**  
**Well, I don't know what the hell kinda story you're working on. The questions he asked me?**

**SAM**  
**About your wife Constance?**

**JOSEPH**  
**He asked me where she was buried.**

"So, John was actually trying to end the disappearances?" Abby inquired. "Why did he disappear?"

The rest of the agents shrugged. They didn't know.

**SAM**  
**And where is that again?**

**JOSEPH**  
**What, I gotta go through this twice?**

**SAM**  
**It's fact-checking. If you don't mind.**

**JOSEPH**  
**In a plot. Behind my old place over on Breckenridge.**

**SAM**  
**And why did you move?**

**JOSEPH**  
**I'm not gonna live in the house where my children died.**

The agents winced again. If that had happened to them, they would have moved out too.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes, reflecting on similarities between him and the people who showed up near the Winchesters. He didn't like it very much.

**SAM stops walking. JOSEPH stops too.**

**SAM**  
**Mr. Welch, did you ever marry again?**

**JOSEPH**  
**No way. Constance, she was the love of my life. Prettiest woman I ever known.**

**SAM**  
**So you had a happy marriage?**

**JOSEPH hesitates.**

**JOSEPH**  
**Definitely.**

"He's lying." Ziva announced quickly. "Or hiding something."

The other agents nodded.

**SAM**  
**Well, that should do it. Thanks for your time.**

**SAM turns toward the Impala. JOSEPH walks away. SAM waits a moment, then looks back up at JOSEPH.**

**SAM**  
**Mr. Welch, did you ever hear of a woman in white?**

"What's Sam doing?" McGee looked alarmed.

"It seems like he is trying to check if they were right on their assumption that Constance Welch was a woman in white." Ducky guessed. "They don't have the same morals when it comes to preserving a persons mental stability."

"With a father like John Winchester, I'm not surprised by that." Abby made a face.

**JOSEPH turns around.**

**JOSEPH**  
**A what?**

**SAM**  
**A woman in white. Or sometimes weeping woman?**

Jimmy wrote the alternate name down as well.

**JOSEPH just looks.**

**SAM**  
**It's a ghost story. Well, it's more of a phenomenon, really.**

**SAM starts back toward JOSEPH.**

**SAM**  
**Um, they're spirits. They've been sighted for hundreds of years, dozens of places, in Hawaii, Mexico, lately in Arizona, Indiana. All these are different women.**

"When he says lately, does he mean it's spreading?" Fornell raised an eyebrow.

"As civilization expands, more women in white are likely to start haunting people." Ducky explained. "Of course, it is rather alarming that more people are now in danger."

**SAM stops in front of JOSEPH.**

**SAM**  
**You understand. But all share the same story.**

The agents looked to the screen, strangely attentive.

**JOSEPH**  
**Boy, I don't care much for nonsense.**

**JOSEPH walks away. SAM follows.**

**SAM**  
**See, when they were alive, their husbands were unfaithful to them.**

"That's probably not the best thing to say to him." McGee winced.

"Know this from experience?" Abby teased.

"No," the tech grinned. "Common sense."

"Well, common sense isn't too common these days. Ask any math teacher." the forensic scientist retorted while grinning.

**JOSEPH stops.**

**SAM**  
**And these women, basically suffering from temporary insanity, murdered their children.**

Jimmy scribbled this down quickly, wincing slightly.

"Those poor women." Abby cringed.

**JOSEPH turns around.**

**SAM**  
**Then once they realized what they had done, they took their own lives. So now their spirits are cursed, walking back roads, waterways. And if they find an unfaithful man, they kill him. And that man is never seen again.**

"Where do you think the bodies end up?" Gibbs inquired.

Fornell shrugged. "They could be anywhere. The women in white could take them to specific places, or their bodies could be vaporized or something."

Jimmy wrote that down too.

**JOSEPH**  
**You think...you think that has something to do with...Constance? You smartass!**

**SAM**  
**You tell me.**

**JOSEPH**  
**I mean, maybe...maybe I made some mistakes. But no matter what I did, Constance, she never would have killed her own children. Now, you get the hell out of here! And you don't come back!**

"So, he's a cheat." Abby commented.

"It certainly would seem so." Ducky said in a somber tone. "So much for 'happy marriage'."

**JOSEPH's face shakes, whether from anger or grief, it's impossible to tell. After a long moment, he turns away. SAM sighs.**

###  ** SHERIFF'S OFFICE **

**_INT. SHERIFF'S OFFICE – NIGHT_ **

**DEAN**  
**I don't know how many times I gotta tell you. It's my high school locker combo.**

Ziva winced. "That is not going to go over well."

"It seems like such a Tony thing to do." Abby sighed. "I wonder what Tony was doing when he got in the Impala. Were they going on a hunt where they need backup? Or were they going to defeat the Devil or something?"

The agents shrugged but looked worried.

"Probably something life-threatening." McGee mentioned.

"Not helpful, Timmy!"

**SHERIFF PIERCE is still interrogating DEAN over the "DEAN 35-111" page.**

**SHERIFF**  
**We gonna do this all night long?**

**A DEPUTY leans into the room.**

**DEPUTY**  
**We just got a 911, shots fired over at Whiteford Road.**

"What perfect timing." Gibbs looked suspicious.

**SHERIFF**  
**You have to go to the bathroom?**

**DEAN**  
**No.**

**SHERIFF**  
**Good.**

"They probably wouldn't have let him out even if he had to go." McGee commented.

**The SHERIFF handcuffs Dean to the table and leaves. DEAN sees a paper clip poking out of the journal, pulls it out, and looks at it. Moments later, as the SHERIFF and DEPUTY are gearing up to leave, he is out of the cuffs. DEAN watches through the window in the door, ducks out of sight as the DEPUTY approaches the door, and waits.**

The agents once again looked impressed by the skills the Winchesters displayed.

**_EXT. SHERIFF'S OFFICE – NIGHT_ **

**DEAN climbs down the fire escape, carrying JOHN's journal.**

###  ** HIGHWAY **

**_EXT. HIGHWAY – NIGHT_ and _EXT. STREET – NIGHT_ , alternating**

**SAM is driving the IMPALA when his phone rings. He pulls it out and answers it. DEAN is in a phone booth; apparently his phone was confiscated and he didn't take the time to steal it back.**

"That sucks." McGee frowned, mourning the wasted technology.

"Where do they get the phones anyway? If they don't have any money to buy it." Jimmy pondered.

"They might have bought it with their fake credit cards. Or Tony may have gotten them." Abby offered.

"Possibly."

**DEAN**  
**Fake 911 phone call? Sammy, I don't know, that's pretty illegal.**

Vance sighed. "We'll have to let him off the hook for that one too."

**SAM**  
**You're welcome.**

**SAM grins.**

**DEAN**  
**Listen, we gotta talk.**

**SAM**  
**Tell me about it. So the husband _was_ unfaithful. We _are_ dealing with a woman in white. And she's buried behind her old house, so that should have been Dad's next stop.**

**DEAN**  
**Sammy, would you shut up for a second?**

McGee laughed a bit, seeing similarities between the younger Winchester brothers and him and Tony.

**SAM**  
**I just can't figure out why Dad hasn't destroyed the corpse yet.**

"Cause he left before the job was finished." Abby frowned.

**DEAN**  
**Well, that's what I'm trying to tell you. He's gone. Dad left Jericho.**

**SAM**  
**What? How do you know?**

**DEAN**  
**I've got his journal.**

**SAM**  
**He doesn't go anywhere without that thing.**

"A hunter's best friend." Abby said in a soft, melodic tone, mocking commercials for jewelry and such.

The agents all laughed.

"It could be beneficial, though." she continued on to say.

**DEAN**  
**Yeah, well, he did this time.**

**SAM**  
**What's it say?**

**DEAN**  
**Ah, the same old ex-Marine crap, when he wants to let us know where he's going.**

"Coordinates." Gibbs grinned in victory.

**SAM**  
**Coordinates. Where to?**

**DEAN**  
**I'm not sure yet.**

**SAM**  
**I don't understand. I mean, what could be so important that Dad would just skip out in the middle of a job? Dean, what the hell is going on?**

"That is what we want to know!" McGee looked increasingly frustrated.

**SAM looks up and slams the brake, dropping the phone: CONSTANCE appeared on the road in front of him. The car goes right through her as SAM brings it to a halt.**

"Oh my God!" Abby gasped slightly.

"Wait, why is she going after Sam?" McGee looked confused. "He's not the type to be unfaithful. Tony would probably say that he's the type to never have a girlfriend, but he obviously has."

The agents shrugged.

**DEAN**  
**Sam? Sam!**

**Inside the car, SAM breathes hard. CONSTANCE is sitting in the back seat.**

"Freaky..." the forensic scientist looked worried along with the rest of the NCIS team.

**CONSTANCE**  
**Take me home.**

"How about no?" McGee mentioned.

"I think that is the end of this part." Vance mentioned.

"Well, let's watch another immediately!" Abby urged.

They turned to the television as it came to life.


	8. Pilot - Act Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They watch Act 5 of "Pilot."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing! I tried to put more Tony into this part, but it is hard to do so in the pilot episode of the series. It might be....unsatisfactory. I'm thinking that after "Pilot" is over I'll update entire episodes at once instead of only acts. Like, "Wendigo" will have the entire episode instead of many acts in different chapters, so that would be next chapter. It might mean that the updates have a bit longer between them, but I think it would be worth it. Please tell me what you think! Also, sorry if anyone is out of character.

** HIGHWAY **

**_EXT. HIGHWAY – NIGHT_ **

**CONSTANCE**  
**Take me home!**

 **SAM**  
**No.**

"I agree with Sam." Abby nodded. "If I was in that situation, I'd choose life!"

McGee seemed to be in a stage of contemplation. "I wonder why spirits exist in the first place. Like, why do some people stick around after death and haunt people while others go to...wherever they go!"

"That is a good question, Timothy." Ducky looked interested. "Although, it is one that will most likely be answered in these." he waved his hand vaguely towards the screen.

**CONSTANCE glares and the doors lock themselves. SAM struggles to reopen them. The gas pedal presses down and the car begins to drive itself. SAM tries to steer, but CONSTANCE is doing that too. SAM continues to try to get the door open. In the back seat, CONSTANCE flickers.**

"How is he supposed to get out of there?" Ziva inquired. "Constance Welch seems to be incredibly strong: almost invincible."

Fornell responded, "Spirits seem to have no weaknesses; it is probably the reason why so many people lacking experience with the supernatural die from the attack."

"You think anyone lived?" Gibbs asked gruffly.

"Maybe," the FBI agent replied after a moment of hesitation. "If they were to speak about their experiences, though, they'd probably get put in a psych ward."

"Perhaps we could contact them and ask them questions about it if there are any." Abby suggested.

Vance answered. "That would be risky. We would not know what they actually saw and what their traumatized minds put together."

"We could still ask."

###  ** BRECKENRIDGE ROAD **

**_EXT. ABANDONED HOUSE – NIGHT_ **

**The car pulls up in front of CONSTANCE's house and stops. The engine shuts off and so do the lights.**

"It seems that she drove herself home instead." Jimmy frowned. "Why does she have to be at her house when she kills someone?"

"There could be some sort of significance to the place she killed her children, dear lad." Ducky responded. "Maybe she is tied to the place somehow."

 **SAM**  
**Don't do this.**

**CONSTANCE flickers. Her voice is sad.**

**CONSTANCE**  
**I can never go home.**

"Why not?" Ziva questioned. "She takes people there literally every time."

"She might not be able to face the fact that she killed her children." McGee suggested.

 **SAM**  
**You're scared to go home.**

**SAM looks back and CONSTANCE isn't there. He glances around and back and sees her in the shotgun seat. She climbs into his lap, shoving him back against the seat hard enough to recline the seat. SAM struggles.**

They all winced. That had to hurt a lot.

"Where's Dean?" Abby looked concerned for them. She seemed to connect to them even though she has never met them face-to-face.

 **CONSTANCE**  
**Hold me. I'm so cold.**

 **SAM**  
**You can't kill me. I'm not unfaithful. I've never been!**

"Why is she attacking him if he's never been unfaithful?" McGee asked.

"Perhaps she is thinking that Sam was unfaithful to Jess because he went with Dean." Ziva offered.

"Maybe," the tech wiz responded. "But not unfaithful in...that way."

She shook her head. "Definitely not."

 **CONSTANCE**  
**You will be. Just hold me.**

"So, she is going to make him unfaithful herself." Ziva continued. "Isn't that breaking the rules somehow?"

"It is concerning," Ducky replied. "She seems to be getting stronger; it might mean that they gain strength the more they kill. Status, of sorts."

They frowned.

"Well, we can't let any of them kill too much that hunters can't deal with them." Vance announced.

**CONSTANCE kisses SAM as he continues to struggle, reaching for the keys. She pulls back and disappears, a flash of something horrible behind her face as she vanishes. SAM looks around for a moment, then yells in pain and yanks his hoodie open. There are five new holes burned through the fabric, matching to CONSTANCE's fingers: she flickers in front of him, her hand reaching into his chest. A gunshot goes off, shattering the window and startling CONSTANCE. DEAN approaches, still firing at her. She glares at him and vanishes, then reappears, and DEAN keeps firing until she disappears again. SAM manages to sit up and start the car.**

"There's Dean." Abby sighed with relief.

"She's still there even though she can't be seen." Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Gibbs!" the forensic scientist beamed. "It begs the question on what state of matter spirits are in. Can they cause a phase change in themselves without any changes in temperature? How can they seemingly disappear yet still have observable, physical, and sheer impacts on things around them?"

Gibbs observed the screen. "I'm gonna just call it supernatural mumbo-jumbo."

 **SAM**  
**I'm taking you home.**

**SAM drives forward. DEAN stares after the car. SAM smashes through the side of the house. DEAN hurries through the wreckage to the passenger side of the car.**

"That could have hurt him a lot." Ducky furrowed his eyebrows. "Quite the risky move."

"Her home was her weakness..." Jimmy noticed. "And Sam used that weakness to weaken her or something. Does that mean that every spirit has different weaknesses besides salt and stuff?"

The medical examiner nodded. "It certainly seems so."

 **DEAN**  
**Sam! Sam! You okay?**

 **SAM**  
**I think...**

"That doesn't sound so good." Abby winced.

 **DEAN**  
**Can you move?**

 **SAM**  
**Yeah. Help me?**

**DEAN leans through the window to give SAM a hand.**

**CONSTANCE picks up a large framed photograph seen when she brought TROY here: the WOMAN is CONSTANCE and the children are presumably hers.**

"I know she killed people, but I can't help but feel sorry for her." McGee tried to explain his emotions.

Ziva nodded. "It wasn't exactly her fault, though. Maybe it is in her nature, maybe she was driven into insanity over the years."

Ducky agreed. "Although, it seems that the second option would be more likely. I doubt that death changes the nature of a person; there could be some spirits out there that don't kill. That would mean that they are never noticed by the hunter community."

**DEAN helps SAM out of the car.**

**DEAN**  
**There you go.**

**DEAN closes the car door. They look around and see CONSTANCE; she looks up. She glares at them and throws the picture down. A bureau scoots towards SAM and DEAN, pinning them against the car. The lights flicker; CONSTANCE looks around, scared. Water begins to pour down the staircase. She goes over. At the top are the BOY and GIRL from the photograph. They hold hands and speak in chorus.**

"They were spirits too?" Abby looked incredibly depressed. "Those poor kids...."

Jimmy sighed. "Since spirits are born out of a violent death apparently, their deaths would probably count as violent. They drowned, right?"

"Yes," the forensic scientist replied.

"How strong are these ghosts?" Gibbs did not look amused.

"I'm not sure it can be determined, Jethro. It could depend on their strength from their life or how many times they killed someone." Ducky responded.

 **CHILDREN**  
**You've come home to us, Mommy.**

**CONSTANCE looks at them, distraught. Suddenly they are behind her; they embrace her tightly and she screams, her image flickering. In a surge of energy, still screaming, CONSTANCE and the two CHILDREN melt into a puddle in the floor. SAM and DEAN shove the bureau over and go look at the spot where CONSTANCE and her CHILDREN vanished.**

They all sighed in relief.

"Where do you think they went, Tim?" Abby inquired.

"No idea." McGee answered honestly. "Constance did kill people, but it wasn't exactly her fault. There may be an exception? Or maybe people who were taken out of the world by hunters end up elsewhere..."

"She became a puddle." Ziva stated, jaw dropped.

"Quite disturbing, wasn't it?" Ducky winced. "I wonder if it hurt them or not."

"Hopefully not," she regained her composure.

 **DEAN**  
**So this is where she drowned her kids.**

**SAM nods.**

**SAM**  
**That's why she could never go home. She was too scared to face them.**

 **DEAN**  
**You found her weak spot. Nice work, Sammy.**

"So, they do have weak spots." Jimmy wrote this down. "Probably about their lives and deaths."

"Including items of importance from their lives." McGee added./

**He slaps SAM on the chest where he's been injured and walks away. SAM laughs through the pain.**

"Ah....brothers." Ducky reminisced about his brother.

 **SAM**  
**Yeah, I wish I could say the same for you. What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freak?**

"Probably trying to distract her from killing Sam." Abby rationalized.

 **DEAN**  
**Hey. Saved your ass.**

**"Highway to Hell" by AC/DC begins to play.**

**DEAN leans over to look at the car.**

**DEAN**  
**I'll tell you another thing. If you screwed up my car?**

**DEAN twists around to look at SAM.**

**DEAN**  
**I'll kill you.**

"Definitely brothers." Abby added on to what Ducky had said earlier.

"Dean seems to like cars as much as Tony does." McGee groaned.

"Not like, Tim." the forensic scientist correct. "Love..."

He groaned. "If he dies and becomes a spirit, that would probably be the object to destroy."

The rest of the room grimaced.

"Well, let's hope he and Sam don't die." Vance didn't dare think of that.

For some odd reason, a voice started to cackle in the background for a couple of seconds, causing the agents in the room to draw their weapons again. After a bit of time researching the place, they looked at each other in a confused manner.

A note appeared, and when McGee read it, it said:

_Good luck with that,_

_Luci_

"Good luck with having them not die?" the forensic scientist in the room looked confused. "What does that mean? It isn't like they've really died before; they wouldn't be here!"

**SAM laughs.**

###  ** HIGHWAY **

**_EXT. HIGHWAY – NIGHT_ **

**The Impala tears down the road; the right headlight is out.**

"They should really get their headlight fixed...." McGee mumbled under his breath.

 **MUSIC**  
**Living easy, loving free**  
**Season ticket on a one-way ride**

**SAM has the journal open to "DEAN 35-111" and a map open on his lap and is finding coordinates with a ruler, a flashlight tucked between chin and shoulder.**

**MUSIC**  
**Asking nothing**

 **SAM**  
**Okay, here's where Dad went.**

"Let's hope he actually went there and is not leading them on a wild duck chase." Ziva seriously stated.

"Goose chase." the tech wiz corrected her English. 

"Yes, that. The point is, let's hope he isn't making them go cross country millions of times and never show himself." she responded.

Ducky nodded. "I do hope that that is the case, but I feel like it probably won't happen." he analyzed. "You see, Sam did not return to Stanford after they went there."

"He could have been taking some time off to clear his head." Gibbs knew how Sam felt.

The medical examiner glanced at him. "Yes, while that may be true, he never did return, Jethro. You may say that it is because they were made suspects of numerous crimes, but every time they would go somewhere, they seemed to know exactly where they were going, right Abigail?"

"Yes," Abby nodded. "They always went to a specific city, and not all were major cities. I believe that they could have gone to some through researching as hunters, but it was unlikely that they researched all of them themselves. John Winchester most likely gave them some of them without ever showing himself."

The agents looked angry.

 **MUSIC**  
**Leave me be**

 **SAM**  
**It's called Blackwater Ridge, Colorado.**

"That isn't an incredibly well known city...." McGee connected. "It isn't like a tourist would go to New York, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston, Las Vegas, and Blackwater Ridge."

 **MUSIC**  
**Taking everythin' in my stride**

**DEAN nods.**

**DEAN**  
**Sounds charming. How far?**

 **MUSIC**  
**Don't need reason**

 **SAM**  
**About six hundred miles.**

"They must have so many fake credit cards just for gas." Abby winced.

 **MUSIC**  
**Don't need rhyme**

 **DEAN**  
**Hey, if we shag ass we could make it by morning.**

Ziva grimaced. "Didn't Sam have an interview he had to get to?"

McGee nodded. "I guess that was why they were back at Stanford at the time of the fire."

"Dean must have been so sad them." Abby frowned. "He would be going to drop your brother off to look for his absent father all by himself."

"He could have called Tony." the tech wiz offered.

"But Tony could be busy here at that time!" the forensic scientist argued.

 **MUSIC**  
**Ain't nothing I would rather do**

**SAM looks at him, hesitating.**

**SAM**  
**Dean, I, um...**

 **MUSIC**  
**Going down**

**DEAN glances at the road and back.**

The agents winced at the look on Dean's face.

"Surely, even if Dean really went off alone, there has to be other hunters he can go with..." Jimmy muttered.

"With all of them knowing about the supernatural, they might not trust all hunters." Ducky suggested. "There are probably some that don't necessarily do things the right way."

 **MUSIC**  
**Party time**

 **DEAN**  
**You're not going.**

 **MUSIC**  
**My friends are gonna be there too**

 **SAM**  
**The interview's in like, ten hours. I gotta be there.**

**Dean nods, disappointed, and returns his attention to the road.**

**DEAN**  
**Yeah. Yeah, whatever.**

"He's hiding his disappointment..." Abby noticed.

**DEAN glances at SAM.**

**DEAN**  
**I'll take you home.**

"It is odd that Dean refers to Stanford as Sam's home." Ducky voiced his thoughts. "He could be trying to possibly distance himself or let go of Sam. Get used to being without him again."

**SAM turns the flashlight off. They drive on.**

**MUSIC**  
**Highway to hell**

###  ** APARTMENT **

**_EXT. SAM'S APARTMENT BUILDING – NIGHT_ **

The agents stiffened once more. They knew what was going to happen: Jessica Lee Moore's death. They just hoped that they would be able to prove that Dean and Sam had nothing to do with it.

 **MUSIC**  
**I'm on the highway to hell**

**They pull up in front of the apartment, DEAN still frowning. SAM gets out and leans over to look through the window.**

**SAM**  
**Call me if you find him? Maybe contact Tony.**

"I remember Tony went to Blackwater Ridge for a while years back..." Gibbs frowned. "After Kate and the Plague, he said he needed some time off. Probably went to a few other places besides Colorado."

**DEAN nods.**

**SAM**  
**And maybe I can meet up with you later, huh?**

"Later isn't the best way to phrase that." McGee winced.

"Although that is true, he believed it to be accurate. Sam would never expect that Jess would be killed, so he had all reason to believe that he would be going to the interview. He might have been planning to help him afterwards." Ducky explained patiently.

"Yeah, but it is weird knowing what happened and seeing this part. It is almost like foreshadowing, you know? Only it isn't fiction." he tried to explain. "It is almost like they are hinting to the future even if they don't know it yet."

"It could just be Lucifer messing with our minds." Abby offered.

 **DEAN**  
**Yeah, all right.**

**SAM pats the car door twice and turns away. DEAN leans toward the passenger door, one arm going over the back of the seat.**

**DEAN**  
**Sam?**

**SAM turns back.**

**DEAN**  
**You know, we made a hell of a team back there.**

"They certainly did," Vance commented. If only there was an organization that knew about the supernatural and hunted creatures as its sole purpose.

 **SAM**  
**Yeah.**

**DEAN drives off. SAM watches him go and sighs.**

**_INT. SAM'S APARTMENT – NIGHT_ **

**SAM lets himself in. Everything is dark and quiet.**

The agents glanced at each other. Would Jess's death be similar to Mary Winchester's? Or would they see something else entirely? Neither option was really preferable.

 **SAM**  
**Jess?**

**SAM closes the door.**

**SAM**  
**You home?**

**SAM notices a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table, with a note that reads "Missed you! Love you!", next to a _National Geographic_. SAM picks one up and eats it as he sneaks into the bedroom, smiling. The shower is audibly running. SAM sits on the bed, shuts his eyes, and flops onto his back.**

**Blood drips onto SAM's forehead, one drop, then another; he flinches and opens his eyes. He gasps in horror: JESS is pinned to the ceiling, staring down at him and bleeding from the belly.**

"She's still alive too!" Abby gasped, tears filling her eyes.

"Why is the bleeding necessary if the demon is just going to light her on fire?" McGee looked disgusted.

Ziva answered, not looking at the screen anymore. "Maybe torture. It could have wanted information? Or maybe it was just sadistic."

"How long was she up there?" Gibbs felt for Sam.

"Who knows? It probably was recent, but I wouldn't know more without the body." Ducky answered. "And that is out of the question right now. Mary Winchester wasn't on the ceiling for very long before she caught fire."

 **SAM**  
**No!**

**JESS bursts into flame; the fire spreads across the ceiling.**

**DEAN kicks the front door open.**

"Didn't he leave?" Jimmy asked, looking confused.

"He probably noticed something and decided to turn back, or maybe he was waiting to see if Sam would come with him after the interview was over." McGee answered.

Abby added on. "There could have been some sort of supernatural sign that informed Dean that there was a demon where Sam was."

 **DEAN**  
**Sam!**

**SAM raises one arm to shield his face.**

**SAM**  
**Jess!**

**DEAN comes running into the bedroom.**

**DEAN**  
**Sam! Sam!**

**DEAN looks up and sees JESS.**

"That must have been a shock for him." Fornell winced. None of the agents were really that interested in talking through this part. It was obviously very difficult to get through, and they were trying to be respectful.

 **SAM**  
**No! No!**

**DEAN grabs SAM off the bed and bodily shoves him out the door, SAM struggling all the way.**

"He can't save her." Abby looked at her lap.

"That wouldn't stop someone like Sam from trying. He would do it or die trying." Ducky solemnly responded.

Ziva glanced at Ducky. "That isn't necessarily a good quality to have. I'm personally grateful that Dean had his six."

McGee nodded. "Imagine if he didn't..."

 **SAM**  
**Jess! Jess! No!**

**Flames engulf the apartment.**

###  ** AFTER THE FIRE **

**_EXT. SAM'S APARTMENT – NIGHT_ **

**In a scene much like the end of the flashback, a fire truck is parked outside the building, firemen and police keeping back gawkers. DEAN looks on, then turns and walks back to his car. SAM is standing behind the open trunk, loading a shotgun. DEAN looks at the trunk, then at SAM, whose face is set in a mask of desperate anger. SAM looks up, then sighs, nods, and tosses the shotgun into the trunk.**

"If anyone saw their arsenal..." Jimmy trailed off.

"I believe that Sam was too overwhelmed by sadness and guilt to even consider that, my dear boy." the medical examiner gently suggested.

 **SAM**  
**We got work to do.**

**SAM shuts the trunk.**

**DEAN nods.**

**DEAN**  
**Let me call Tony.**

The agents glanced at each other. They were about to view a private phone call of one of their friends and colleagues....

That brought up another question.

"How are we going to tell them that we now know about the supernatural?" Abby inquired. "We'd have to say that we saw all their private moments and such...that wouldn't go over well."

Vance answered her. "I think it would be best if we just tell them the truth. Whatever happens, happens."

"They could be glad that they don't have to explain anything." Ducky proposed. "And that they could be proven innocent. And that they can earn money." he added on as an afterthought.

They hoped that Ducky was right.

**SAM agrees.**

**DEAN dials his brother.**

**DEAN**  
**Tony. We need you.**

_**EXT. NCIS SQUADROOM - VERY EARLY** _

**TONY**  
**You have any idea what time it is?**

"Tony is at NCIS very early..." Ziva commented.

"It appears that Anthony sometimes stays late, yes?" Ducky inquired.

Gibbs nodded. "Once in a while, he would stay late, sometimes through the entire night. This could be one of those times."

 **DEAN (from the phone)**  
**Yeah, sorry, your highness.**

"Your highness?" McGee laughed. "That suits him."

"Like McGeek suits you." Abby lightly teased.

**TONY looks annoyed**

**TONY**  
**What did you want, Princess?**

 **DEAN (from the phone)**  
**Hey, I am not a princess.**

"I bet Sam is ecstatic that they are discussing whether or not Dean belongs on the Disney princess lineup or not right after his girlfriend's death." Jimmy winced.

Ducky sighed. "It is possible that Sam left for a bit. I honestly doubt Dean would do that to Sam right afterward, even considering how they were raised."

 **TONY**  
**Whatever you say, brother mine.**

 **DEAN (from the phone)**  
**Can you come to California?**

**TONY looks concerned.**

**TONY**  
**Not currently. Why are you even in California? You aren't dragging Sam off anywhere, right? He really wants this degree; you know he does.**

"It doesn't seem like that is his priority anymore..." Ziva mentioned. "He seems to be in the mood for revenge. And that could make him careless with things. Impulsive. More likely to take risks."

"Well, he'll have at least Dean on his six." McGee reassured. "And since Gibbs said that he went to Blackwater Ridge for a while, then Tony probably had it too."

"They could get separated though," she brought up a possibility. "You know, how Constance was in the car with Sam. He probably would have died if Dean didn't get there in time."

"If he's fine now, he'll turn out fine then." the tech wiz continued. "It's not like he dies or anything."

There was more mysterious cackling in the background, but no one bothered to draw their weapons this time. They knew they would turn up empty-handed.

 **DEAN (from the phone, sounding slightly guilty)**  
**I needed his help for one thing. He had off then, and I took him back before his interview!**

 **TONY**  
**Whatever. Why do you need me there?**

 **DEAN (from the phone)**  
**It's about Sam. Well, Sam's girlfriend.**

 **TONY**  
**Jessica?**

"So, Sam and Tony were in contact with each other." Abby commented. "I wonder why Dean was left out of the loop."

"It probably has something to do with John Winchester." Gibbs stated darkly. He couldn't help it; he was feeling quite protective over these boys even though they had never met. It might be through their connection through Tony, but he suspected that it was more likely due to similarities he saw between their family and his deceased one. Which still didn't quite please him.

If only Shannon had been killed by Hernandez, would he have dragged Kelly onto a similar crusade? Or would he have just gone home? Maybe even dropped her off at Stillwater? He wasn't too sure what he would have done, and that didn't please him in the slightest.

Could he have turned into a monster? Is he one right now?

 **DEAN (from the phone)**  
**Yeah. How did you know?**

 **TONY**  
**It was easier for Sam to contact me than you. He said your phone wasn't picking up his calls.**

 **DEAN (from the phone)**  
**Really? I kept on getting these calls from California, but Dad blocked the number...**

"So, it was John Winchester." Vance snarled. He couldn't imagine forbidding his son talk to his daughter or vice versa.

"How many things are we going to be mad at John Winchester for by the end of this? The list is already extensive..." Ziva sighed.

"Probably enough to make us want to send him to Hell." Abby darkly scowled.

 **TONY**  
**He did what? Why would he do that?**

 **DEAN (from the phone)**  
**I don't know, Tony. But, let's get back on the topic.**

 **TONY**  
**Okay. Jessica.**

 **DEAN (from the phone)**  
**Jessica. The thing is....she was murdered tonight. Died the exact same way Mom did; Sam and I think it was the same demon. And with Dad nowhere to be found, we need all the help we can get.**

**TONY (worried)  
Where's Dad? How's Sam doing? How are you doing?**

**DEAN (from the phone)**  
**He left us some coordinates to follow in his journal, so we are going there to see if we can find him. Sammy? Not that great. He's leaving Stanford, at least for now. He wants to kill the son of a bitch.**

"And for that, they would need to find their father." Ducky sighed. "He's making that very difficult for his children."

"A phone call would be nice." McGee did not look amused.

 **TONY (sighs)**  
**What are the coordinates?**

"So, he did go to help them." Abby grinned. "I'm glad he was with his brothers, especially at that difficult time."

Fornell thought this over. "That means we're going to see him doing hunting stuff next time."

"That might help us understand it more." Ziva commented. "Since we are more familiar with Tony than Sam and Dean."

**THE TELEVISION GOES DARK**

"I guess that was the end of this hunt." McGee stretched his arms a bit. "I wonder what happens now."

The television came back to life a few seconds later.

"Oh," the tech wiz laughed a bit. "I guess that happens."


	9. Wendigo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They watch "Wendigo."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing! Sorry if anyone is out of character. This probably won't be out that quickly since I'm doing an entire episode, so my apologies in advance.

**Blackwater Ridge**  
**Lost Creek, Colorado**

"That's where the coordinates were, right?" McGee asked.

"Yeah," Abby nodded her head. "I wonder what sort of thing they are going to stop here."

Ziva reminded her, "They are here looking for their dad, remember?"

"Yeah, but I have a nasty feeling that John is just leading them on a wild goose chase." the forensic scientist scowled. "He's probably not even here."

Gibbs snarled under his breath; John Winchester better be there. Or else he was not sure he would be entirely in control of his actions. This was the father of his senior field agent they were talking about. He better have raised the man he thought of as a son right.

**_EXT. FOREST – NIGHT_ **

**Two tents are set up near a fire ring. Crickets chirp. Inside one tent, two YOUNG MEN, BRAD and GARY, are playing head-to-head handheld video games.**

"These guys going to be more victims?" Jimmy felt sick.

"The answer is unfortunately probably yes, Mr. Palmer." Ducky responded grimly.

 **BRAD**  
**Dude, you're cheating.**

 **GARY**  
**No, you just suck.**

**Something growls outside. In the other tent, a third YOUNG MAN, TOM COLLINS, records a video message on his cell phone.**

Vance groaned slightly. Another one. Why were there so many victims at once this time?

Abby seemed to have a similar thought. "This probably isn't the same sort of creature." she noted. "There are way more people at the same time."

"That mean another category of notes?" Jimmy took out a new page in preparation.

"Yes," Gibbs informed him, trying to keep a level head. "We should also try to find out who these victims are."

 **TOM**  
**Hey Haley, day six, we're still out near Blackwater Ridge.**

**Something dark flicks behind the tent wall behind TOM, too fast to be identifiable as more than 'something dark'; the screen on TOM's phone, displaying the video as TOM records it, caught it.**

Ziva noticed it. "Something moved in the background...I think it is a physical creature and not a spirit."

"There are monsters too?" McGee groaned.

Abby tutted. "If it's supernatural, you can bet that they probably exist at least somewhere in the world."

 **TOM**  
**We're fine, keeping safe, so don't worry, okay? Talk to you tomorrow.**

**TOM stops recording and sends the message.**

**BRAD closes his game system and tosses it aside. GARY stares at his system for a moment, then turns to look at BRAD, who is getting up and unzipping the tent.**

"And he's going outside." McGee sighed. "Where the monster is."

 **GARY**  
**Hey, where ya goin'? My moment of victory.**

 **BRAD**  
**Nature calls.**

**BRAD goes outside and zips up the tent behind him. He goes to stand against the tree to relieve himself. The fire crackles. Something snaps a stick. BRAD looks towards the sound and sees the trees rustling. BRAD shakes his head and returns his attention downward, then looks up sharply. Something growls.**

The agents watched closely, trying to observe all the signs of the attack. Though, they didn't want to actually see the attack itself.

**Inside TOM's tent, TOM, who is reading Joseph Campbell's _The Hero With A Thousand Faces_ , hears BRAD scream. Inside GARY's tent, GARY hears the same and rolls over.**

**GARY**  
**Brad?**

Gibbs pointed to Jimmy. "Name."

Jimmy scribbled this down on the list as well. "What if he's not dead?"

"If they aren't dead, then we can add a special mark to it." he decided. "Maybe they'd be willing to talk about their experiences."

**TOM sits up.**

**TOM**  
**Gary, what's goin' on?**

Jimmy wrote down this name as well, though neither had last names so far at least.

**GARY opens the tent and sticks his head out to look around. He sees nothing. Growling. He looks up. Something pulls GARY out of the tent. He screams.**

Everyone in the room flinched at the sudden movement.

"That thing is really strong." McGee gasped.

**TOM turns out the lantern he had on. Shadows move very quickly around the outside of TOM's tent. TOM looks around, his eyes following the shadows and growling. Silence falls. Something slashes open TOM's tent. TOM screams.**

##  ** ACT ONE **

###  ** CEMETERY **

**Palo Alto, California**

**_EXT. CEMETERY – DAY_ **

**Birds chirp. SAM, wearing a suit and tie and carrying a bouquet of various flowers excluding roses, walks through an otherwise deserted cemetery.**

The mood plummeted, and the occupants of the room were suddenly silent out of respect for the grieving Winchester and his dead girlfriend.

**SAM sighs and stops next to a gravestone. It reads "JESSICA LEE MOORE", "Beloved Daughter", "January 24th 1984 – November 2nd 2005". There is a small picture of a grinning JESS set into the stone above her name, a black-and-white picture of her leaning against the stone between a white teddy bear and a wooden box with a crucifix leaning on the picture, a small American flag next to the box, and three candles standing on the gravestone; one is of the Virgin de Guadalupe.**

**SAM looks between the gravestone and the flowers.**

**SAM**  
**I, uh...**

**SAM laughs.**

**SAM**  
**You always said roses were, were lame, so I brought you, uh...**

Gibbs looked at the screen with a stony expression. Sam was clearly trying to ignore his grief.

**SAM looks at the picture set into the gravestone, then looks away, choking back tears. He steps closer to the gravestone.**

**SAM**  
**Jess...oh God...**

**SAM kneels to set down the flowers.**

**SAM**  
**I should have protected you. I should have told you the truth.**

**SAM leans the flowers in front of the crucifix. An arm covered in dirt shoots out of the ground and grabs SAM by the wrist.**

"Woah!" Abby shot back in surprise, and most of the others flinched as well.

"Is it supernatural?" McGee looked ready to take some notes.

Gibbs shook his head. "No."

"How can that not be supernatural, boss?" the tech wiz looked confused.

The former sniper knew what this was from personal experience. "It's only a nightmare."

"Oh," they were suddenly silent again, but Ducky stole a glance in his friend's direction.

###  ** IMPALA **

**_INT. IMPALA – DAY_ **

**SAM jerks awake. It is 10 Nov 2005, he is riding shotgun next to DEAN, Foreigner's "Hot-Blooded" is playing, and the cemetery visit is days behind them if it ever occurred.**

The agents looked at each other awkwardly. How were they supposed to know that it was a nightmare and not something supernatural? It must have been Gibbs's gut.

 **MUSIC**  
**I'm hot-blooded, check it and see**  
**I got a fever of a hundred and three**  
**Come on, baby, do you do more than dance?**

**SAM blinks and rubs his eyes. DEAN looks over, concerned.**

**DEAN**  
**You okay?**

 **MUSIC**  
**I'm hot-blooded**

**SAM glances over and away.**

**MUSIC**  
**I'm hot-blooded**

 **SAM**  
**Yeah, I'm fine.**

**DEAN nods.**

**DEAN**  
**Another nightmare?**

"They are very close." Ziva commented.

"Yes," Ducky agreed. "I suppose that that is natural though. The Winchesters moved around a lot, and none of them stayed at the same school for a very long time. They were probably the only constants they had in their life."

**SAM clears his throat.**

**MUSIC**  
**You don't have to read my mind**

 **DEAN**  
**You wanna drive for a while?**

 **MUSIC**  
**To know what I have in mind**

**SAM laughs.**

**MUSIC**  
**Honey, you oughta know**

 **SAM**  
**Dean, your whole life you never once asked me that. You barely let Tony drive her when he's around!**

"Sounds like someone is a little protective of their stuff." Abby snorted. "Reminds me of someone."

 **DEAN**  
**Just thought you might want to. Never mind.**

 **MUSIC**  
**Now you move so fine**

 **SAM**  
**Look, man, you're worried about me.**

 **MUSIC**  
**Let me lay it on the line**

 **SAM**  
**I get it, and thank you, but I'm perfectly okay.**

Gibbs looked away for a moment; it was obvious he was not. He hoped that the young man would find a way to move on.

Though from what he was expecting, the thing that killed Jessica and their mother was probably dead. Therefore, it seemed as though they did the same thing he did and go looking for vengeance. He couldn't help but hope that they wouldn't get stuck on it for the rest of their lives like he did.

 **MUSIC**  
**I wanna know**

 **DEAN**  
**Mm-hm.**

 **MUSIC**  
**What you're doing after the show**

**SAM grabs a map.**

**SAM**  
**All right, where are we?**

 **MUSIC**  
**Now it's up to you**

 **DEAN**  
**We are just outside of Grand Junction.**

 **MUSIC**  
**We can make a secret rendezvous**

**SAM folds down the map, which is of Colorado and has a large red X labeled 35-111.**

"How many maps do you think they go through?" Jimmy asked hesitantly. It had been quite quiet for a little bit.

"A lot, I guess." Ziva shrugged. "They have to have maps of wherever they go, and they do go cross country a lot."

McGee nodded. "Plus, they marked this one up; they might get a new one each time."

Gibbs couldn't help but raise his eyebrow. Why did they mark that one up? Getting a new one each time was incredibly inefficient, especially if they were running credit card scams. The more they buy, the more likely it was that they'd get caught.

 **SAM**  
**You know what?**

 **MUSIC**  
**Just me and you**

 **SAM**  
**Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon.**

The agents looked at the screen sadly again.

"They were there for a week, right?" Vance clarified.

"Yes," Abby nodded. "The people there reported that they were acting weirdly, but they left that to grief. Though some were suspicious of Dean. They said he seemed cold, and he wouldn't let anyone near Sam."

Fornell brought up another point. "They were probably doing some investigation too. DiNotzo would have to get all the way there, and he probably took a car since airplanes can be more easily tracked."

"So, they had some time to kill?" Ziva raised an unamused eyebrow. "I think they were investigating to try to find any information possible and pay their respects to Jessica, but Tony would have had to get there. It would have had to be about a thirty hour drive, and he would have had to stop frequently and follow the law."

"If it was that much of an emergency, Tony might have gone over the legal limit." Abby mentioned dryly. "We've found recently that they do break a lot of laws, so that probably wouldn't phase Tony so much."

Ziva hummed. "There would be tolls too. If I remember the interstate maps correctly, it would have been fastest to get there on Interstate 70, yes?"

Abby nodded in agreement. "By about thirty miles. The other option would be to go most of the way on Interstate 80, though there is some time spent on Interstate 76 and 70."

McGee's jaw dropped. "Do I want to know how you to know that?"

"Probably not."

 **MUSIC**  
**I'll show you lovin' like you never knew**

 **DEAN**  
**Sam, we dug around there for a week. We came up with nothing. If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica—**

 **SAM**  
**We gotta find Dad first. And meet up with Tony.**

"So, they want to get as much manpower as possible?" Jimmy inquired.

"Yes, Mr. Palmer. While it wouldn't be a bad thing to have backup, Sam seems to want to jump right into it. It's likely that in his state of grief, he will make some mistakes and do things impulsively." Ducky wisely announced.

 **MUSIC**  
**That's why I'm hot-blooded**  
**Check it and see**

 **DEAN**  
**Dad disappearing—**

 **MUSIC**  
**I got a fever of a hundred and three**

 **DEAN**  
**—and this thing showing up again after twenty years, it's no coincidence.**

"Do you think maybe John left in a hurry and is being chased by the thing?" McGee suggested.

"Unlikely." Fornell answered. "From what my team gathered, John isn't one to run away from a fight. He may strategically retreat, but he never runs away. He stays there until the job is done, and when it's done, he moves on."

"Not anymore." Abby darkly glared at the television.

 **MUSIC**  
**Come on, baby, do you do more than dance?**

 **DEAN**  
**Dad will have answers. He'll know what to do.**

 **SAM**  
**It's weird, man.**

 **MUSIC**  
**I'm hot-blooded**

 **SAM**  
**These coordinates he left us.**

 **MUSIC**  
**Hot-blooded**

 **SAM**  
**This Blackwater Ridge.**

 **DEAN**  
**What about it?**

 **SAM**  
**There's nothing there. It's just woods.**

"Yeah," McGee agreed. "If I were a monster or a demon, I'd attack like New York City or Los Angeles, not Blackwater Ridge."

"Maybe it isn't like some full scale assault. It could be one isolated monster." Abby answered. "Since, you know, I doubt John is actually going to be there. He probably passed his book onto them so they can 'continue his legacy' or some other crap like that." the forensic scientist obviously had strong feelings about this man.

**SAM puts down the map.**

**SAM**  
**Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?**

**They drive past the National Forest sign that says, "Welcome to LOST CREEK COLORADO National Forest".**

###  ** RANGER STATION **

**_EXT. RANGER STATION – DAY_ **

**The Impala is parked next to a sign that says "RANGER STATION Lost Creek Trail, Lost Creek National Forest".**

**SAM (voiceover)**  
**So Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote.**

"No kidding." McGee snorted. "Unless John was trying to stay off the radar, he isn't going to actually be there."

**_INT. RANGER STATION – DAY_ **

**SAM looks at a 3D map of the national forest, paying particular attention to the ridge labeled "BLACKWATER RIDGE". DEAN looks at the decorations.**

**SAM**  
**It's cut off by these canyons here, rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place.**

 **DEAN**  
**Dude, check out the size of this freaking bear.**

Abby smiled. "Slightly off topic, but that's okay!" she laughed.

"Reminds me of the time Tony was fooling around with that bear statue." McGee reminisced.

**SAM looks over. DEAN is looking at a framed photo of a man standing behind a much larger bear. SAM comes to stand next to DEAN.**

**SAM**  
**And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area. It's no nature hike, that's for sure.**

"Why would someone willingly put themselves in danger with no reason to?" Ziva inquired curiously. "It doesn't seem like a wise decision."

Abby shrugged. "Thrills? Bragging rights? I don't really know."

**A forest ranger, RANGER WILKINSON, walks up behind them; when he speaks, DEAN and SAM whip around, startled.**

**RANGER**  
**You boys aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?**

 **SAM**  
**Oh, no, sir, we're environmental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper.**

"Another lie." Fornell sighed. "They can slip from one to another very quickly."

"Useful trait." Gibbs grunted before falling silent once more.

"I have a game we can play!" Abby waved her hand in the air frantically.

Fornell raised an eyebrow. "Is this really the time to play games?"

"I was thinking it might help us focus a bit more. You know, give us stakes." the forensic scientist reasoned.

"I think it is a good idea." Vance decided. "What game?"

Abby laughed good-naturedly. "You know...guessing how long a Winchesters' lie can last."

The agents glanced at each other.

"They're good liars." McGee answered. "I think it'll last a while."

"I don't think so." Ziva shook her head. "I think they'll fail this one."

**SAM laughs a little. DEAN grins and raises a fist.**

**DEAN**  
**Recycle, man.**

 **RANGER**  
**Bull.**

"How did you?" McGee gaped, looking between Ziva and the television.

She shared a secretive smile with Abby.

**SAM's eyes flick to DEAN, who doesn't move.**

**RANGER**  
**You're friends with that Haley girl, right?**

**DEAN considers.**

**DEAN**  
**Yes. Yes, we are, Ranger—**

"It is amazing how they can swap from one lie to another so quickly." Jimmy marvelled. "You think Tony can do that?"

"Most likely, Mr. Palmer." Ducky nodded his head. "It seems like such a skill would be necessary for their line of work."

Ziva followed along. "It would be a useful skill to have, and it would certainly make going undercover a lot easier."

**DEAN checks the RANGER's nametag.**

**DEAN**  
**Wilkinson.**

 **RANGER**  
**Well I will tell you exactly what we told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the twenty-fourth, so it's not exactly a missing persons now, is it?**

"No, it's not." Fornell frowned. "This Haley girl is the person who was receiving the message at the beginning, yes?"

Gibbs nodded. "That's who it was made out to."

**DEAN shakes his head.**

**RANGER**  
**You tell that girl to quit worrying, I'm sure her brother's just fine.**

 **DEAN**  
**We will. Well that Haley girl's quite a pistol, huh?**

 **RANGER**  
**That is putting it mildly.**

 **DEAN**  
**Actually you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit. You know, so she could see her brother's return date.**

**The RANGER eyes DEAN. DEAN raises his eyebrows.**

**_EXT. RANGER STATION – DAY_ **

**DEAN and SAM leave the ranger station. DEAN is holding a piece of paper and laughing.**

"He actually got the paper?" Jimmy looked surprised.

"The Winchesters certainly seem to have a large amount of charm." Ziva narrowed her eyes. "Especially when they need to."

 **SAM**  
**What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?**

 **DEAN**  
**What do you mean?**

 **SAM**  
**The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge, so what are we waiting for? Let's just go find Dad. I mean, why even talk to this girl?**

"So they know what is going on." McGee talked to himself.

"Sam seems like he wants to go in with fiery guns." Ziva nodded along.

"I think you mean 'going in with guns blazing,'" Abby corrected.

"Whatever!" she sighed.

The forensic scientist considered this, however, "He does seem to be more determined, motivated, and impulsive this time. When they were going after Constance Welch, he was a lot more level-headed."

"Probably because his girlfriend died." Ziva reminded. "The death of someone close to you can make you go to lengths you normally wouldn't and make you act differently."

**DEAN and SAM stop on opposite sides of the Impala.**

**DEAN**  
**I don't know, maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it?**

**A pause.**

**SAM**  
**What?**

 **DEAN**  
**Since when are you all shoot first ask questions later, anyway?**

 **SAM**  
**Since now.**

"That was kind of creepy." McGee shivered. "You know, how close our conversations ended up being."

**TONY is seen sprinting up behind them.**

"It's Tony!" Abby cheered, throwing her arms up into the air.

The agents in the room sat up in anticipation, wondering if Tony would act any differently or if he was hiding some skill sets.

 **TONY**  
**Samantha! Deanna! My two favorite girls in the whole world!**

"Oh," McGee grimaced. "I guess he still likes to make fun of people."

"Tony is Tony." Abby reminded. "I doubt he would ever act differently."

**TONY pulls both of his brothers into a bear hug.**

**DEAN**  
**Dude. Chick flick**

"Dean does love to avoid emotional moments, doesn't he?" Vance frowned.

Ducky nodded, trying to figure out exactly why this was so.

**DEAN pushes TONY off of him and SAM, but he has a smile on his face.**

**TONY**  
**It's been a while.**

**He turns to SAM.**

**TONY**  
**Sorry about-**

 **SAM**  
**It's fine.**

Gibbs raised an unimpressed eyebrow. It was obvious that it was not fine for Sam.

"He seems to be doing something similar right now as well." Ducky noted. "Though he wasn't like that in the last hunt they did."

 **TONY**  
**You sure?**

 **SAM**  
**Yes.**

**TONY grins**

McGee paused. He knew that Tony grin. It was the one that said 'I know you are lying, but I'll humor you since we're in public.'

 **TONY**  
**So, where are we going to start?**

 **DEAN**  
**We're heading to this Haley Collins girl, so we can figure out what is going on here.**

 **TONY**  
**I thought you were searching for Dad?**

 **DEAN**  
**We are, but it is unlikely that he is somewhere that doesn't have some son of a bitch around.**

"That case in particular must be hard." Abby sympathetically stated. "They think something is around, but they are not one hundred percent certain. All they have to go off of is this one girl who is worried about her brother, and he isn't even set to return yet."

McGee agreed. "Yeah, like, where would they even start? Blackwater Ridge is dangerous anyway by the sounds of it, so it would be even more challenging to sort out completely natural incidents from those that are supernatural."

 **TONY**  
**You got anything yet?**

 **DEAN**  
**Not much. Only a girl who is claiming her brother is missing.**

 **TONY**  
**Claiming?**

 **DEAN**  
**He isn't set to return yet, so everything could be fine.**

"Exactly." Abby gestured to the television.

 **TONY**  
**All right then, let's go.**

**SAM turns away; the sound of the car door opening is heard.**

**TONY**  
**No, no, no princess! Let the elderly sit in the front. Weak knees and such.**

McGee snorts. "That is so Tony. Only Tony would never readily admit to aging."

"True," Abby agreed. "Though I think that is a sacrifice he was willing to take to sit in the front seat. Kind of childish, really, but they didn't really have a childhood."

**TONY pushes past SAM and takes shotgun.**

**SAM  
** **Really?**

**DEAN goes around the car, laughing his ass off.**

"And of course Dean gets to drive." Jimmy grinned.

McGee sighed. He related to Sam a lot. They were both considered geeks, and both of them were playfully pushed around by Tony.

###  ** COLLINS HOUSE **

**_EXT. COLLINS HOUSE – DAY_ **

**DEAN, TONY, and SAM are standing at the door to a house. The door opens to reveal HALEY COLLINS.**

**DEAN**  
**You must be Haley Collins. I'm Dean, this is Sam and Tony, we're, ah, we're rangers with the Park Service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. He wanted us to ask a few questions about your brother Tommy.**

"So, how long do you think this one will last?" Abby vaguely gestured.

"This one seems pretty solid, so I think it will last a lot longer." Ziva pondered. "Maybe about three quarters way into the hunt?" she offered.

"I don't think it will last very long. None of them provided an ID upon introducing themselves, and that could be seen as suspicious." Jimmy claimed.

**HALEY hesitates.**

**HALEY**  
**Lemme see some ID.**

**DEAN pulls out a fake ID with the name 'Samuel Cole' and holds it up against the screen. HALEY looks at it, then at DEAN, who smiles. HALEY opens the door.**

Jimmy cursed under his breath.

"Now, Mr. Palmer, I don't think this is the time for such foul language." Ducky tutted. "It reminds me of a time when I was a small lad back in England. I was getting into a bit of trouble with some of my classmates-"

"I don't think now is the time, Duck," Gibbs cut him off.

Abby looked intrigued. "How many fakes do you think these guys got?"

"Probably a lot." McGee snorted. "They never really know when they'll need them, so it is not like they can get them as the need arises."

The forensic scientist nodded. "Yes, the Winchesters do seem to like being prepared." she had picked up on this from both the television and the reports back in her lab. "But how prepared do you think they are? They could have on for every single police service across the country." she stage-whispered this part.

"I doubt they have that many." the tech wiz laughed at the idea.

 **HALEY**  
**Come on in.**

 **DEAN**  
**Thanks.**

**The door swings open; HALEY catches sight of the Impala.**

"Not really a car that screams 'Park Ranger,'" McGee winced.

 **HALEY**  
**That yours?**

 **DEAN**  
**Yeah.**

**SAM is looking back at the Impala.**

**HALEY**  
**Nice car.**

**HALEY turns to lead DEAN, TONY, and SAM into the kitchen, where BEN COLLINS is sitting at the table on a laptop. DEAN turns his head to mouth something to SAM, who rolls his eyes.**

"Hmmm." Abby wondered. "I wonder why that part wasn't included."

"Probably wasn't important enough." Fornell brushed away.

**_INT. KITCHEN – DAY_ **

**SAM**  
**So if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?**

"They probably keep close contact with each other, like we saw at the beginning." McGee guessed.

Gibbs witheld a smack. "Rule #8."

"Never take anything for granted." he recited. "So, Sam's doing the right thing by checking it out?"

Gibbs nodded.

**HALEY comes back into the room with a bowl she places on the table.**

**HALEY**  
**He checks in every day by cell. He emails, photos, stupid little videos—we haven't heard anything in over three days now.**

 **TONY**  
  **Well, maybe he can't get cell reception. Forests like this are full of bad cell areas.**

 **HALEY**  
**He's got a satellite phone, too.**

"Speaking of being prepared," Abby's jaw dropped. "The Collins family is super prepared as well!"

Ziva nodded. "They are very close to each other."

 **DEAN**  
**Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in?**

 **BEN**  
**He wouldn't do that.**

**DEAN eyes BEN. BEN looks away. HALEY puts more food on the table.**

**HALEY**  
**Our parents are gone. It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other.**

 **SAM**  
**Can I see the pictures he sent you?**

"Maybe they caught something!" Abby was vibrating with excitement.

 **HALEY**  
**Yeah.**

**On a laptop, HALEY pulls up pictures.**

**HALEY**  
**That's Tommy.**

**HALEY clicks twice and another picture comes up, then the still frame opening the latest video.**

**TOM**  
**Hey Haley, day six, we're still out near Blackwater Ridge. We're fine, keeping safe, so don't worry, okay? Talk to you tomorrow.**

**SAM spots the shadow flicking past. TONY sees it too, and they meet each others' gaze.**

"They have a good eye." Jimmy noticed.

Ziva nodded. "They were probably raised to have one. You know, by John. He probably gave them these tasks to help train their eyes from a very young age."

The agents couldn't help but growl again. This was one of their own and his family they were talking about.

 **DEAN**  
**Well, we'll find your brother. We're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing.**

 **HALEY**  
**Then maybe I'll see you there. Look, I can't sit around here anymore. So I hired a guy. I'm heading out in the morning, and I'm gonna find Tommy myself.**

"That...that isn't a very good idea." McGee winced. "I mean, I get that she is worried, but there has to be better ways to do it?"

"She's probably exhausted all those though." Ziva reminded. "None of them are even willing to admit that it is a missing persons case."

"Still is dangerous." the tech wiz shuddered at the thought.

"I never said it wasn't."

 **DEAN**  
**I think I know how you feel.**

 **SAM**  
**Hey, do you mind forwarding these to me?**

 **HALEY**  
**Sure.**

"Ah, evidence." Abby sighed blissfully. "Wait, how are we going to deal with evidence from supernatural cases?"

"We'll still need it, but instead of finding someone who is alive, it might be used to track down a dead person or a monster." Vance offered. "It shouldn't be too much different."

The forensic scientist groaned. "But what would I put in reports? No one would believe me if I said it was a ghost!"

"I don't think that this supernatural stuff is going to make it out into the public anyway." Fornell responded. "Perhaps we could deal with it like the Winchesters do. Take care of the creature and not do any paperwork."

###  ** BAR **

**_INT. BAR – NIGHT_ **

**Someone breaks a game of pool. A waitress goes past carrying beer. SAM, TONY, and DEAN sit down at a table.**

**SAM**  
**So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic. Local campers, mostly. But still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there. They were never found.**

"That's a lot for a mostly empty place." Abby made a face. "I wonder why a hunter wasn't drawn here until now."

"John Winchester apparently was." McGee mentioned. "If he had the coordinates and everything."

The forensic scientist scowled. "But he didn't do anything about it!" she looked furious.

 **TONY**  
**Suspicious, if you ask me. I mean, what are the odds?**

**SAM opens John's journal.**

**DEAN**  
**Any before that?**

**SAM pulls out newspaper articles to show DEAN.**

**SAM**  
**Yeah, in 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack.**

"Okay, that is a lot of people." Ziva's eyes widened. This monster, whatever it was, seemed to be killing a lot.

"Why such a large gap between kills?" McGee's brain was working very hard. "Could this creature hibernate or something?"

"Maybe," Abby nodded. "We won't know for sure until it is clarified, however."

 **TONY**  
**Hmmm. Wonder why hunters didn't get here before. Classic hunt going on here.**

**DEAN reads the headline in _The Lost Creek Gazette_.**

**GRIZZLY BEAR ATTACKS!**  
**_UP TO EIGHT HIKERS VANISH IN LOST CREEK AREA_ **  
**_HIKERS DISAPPEARANCE BAFFLE AUTHORITIES'_ **  
**_Families continue search and rescue efforts in spite of disappointing [...]_ **

**SAM pulls out his laptop.**

**SAM**  
**And again in 1959 and again before that in 1936.**

"The same amount of time passes between each killing spree." Jimmy realized.

Ducky nodded. "It seems like our dear Timothy's theory is likely to be true."

**SAM opens the laptop, which already has a window open to TOM's video.**

**SAM**  
**Every twenty-three years, just like clockwork. Okay. Watch this. Here's a clincher. I downloaded that guy Tommy's video to the laptop. Check this out.**

**SAM pulls up the video and goes through three frames of the video one at a time. A shadow crosses the screen.**

"That thing can move very fast." McGee grimaced. "Not good for them."

"That was less than a second, wasn't it?" Ziva clarified.

The tech wiz nodded. "Much less."

**TONY  
Woah. There-**

**DEAN**  
**Do it again.**

**TONY briefly glares at DEAN for the interruption.**

"Ah...brothers. No matter what the situation is, they will still find ways to annoy one another." Ducky regarded the scene wistfully.

**SAM repeats the frames.**

**SAM**  
**That's three frames. That's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move.**

**DEAN hits SAM. SAM looks up.**

**DEAN**  
**Told you something weird was going on.**

"And the 'I told you so' part is here." Abby looked satisfied.

**TONY chuckles in the background.**

**SAM**  
**Yeah.**

**SAM closes the laptop.**

**SAM**  
**I got one more thing.**

**TONY  
What is it?**

**SAM hands over another newspaper article.**

**SAM**  
**In 'fifty-nine one camper survived this supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid. Barely crawled out of the woods alive.**

"A survivor?" Abby winced. "They must have been traumatized!"

Ziva nodded. "Though now they have someone they can talk to. You know, to try to figure out what sort of supernatural being is attacking people."

"Yeah, but what if the person is convinced that they were just hallucinating or something to make it easier on them since they were a kid seeing their parents get murdered? Plus, they don't even know for certain if it is the same creature."

"In the supernatural world, I think it would be safe to assume that it is the same creature." Ziva continued. "And they could still talk to them."

**TONY  
You think we can talk to him?**

**SAM  
Probably.**

**DEAN looks at _The Lost Creek Gazette_.**

**DEAN**  
**Is there a name?**

###  ** SHAW HOUSE **

**_INT. HOUSE – NIGHT_ **

**An OLD MAN, MR. SHAW, talks to SAM, TONY, and DEAN while leading them inside his house. SHAW has a cigarette in his mouth.**

**SHAW**  
**Look, ranger, I don't know why you're asking me about this. It's public record. I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a—**

"So, they made the lie about the ranger thing again." McGee noted.

"I guess it was convenient." Fornell justified. "And it is easier to keep the number of lies down. You don't want to confuse yourself or have people wondering why you were a ranger one minute and a health inspector the next!"

**SAM interrupts.**

**SAM**  
**Grizzly? That's what attacked them?**

**SHAW takes a puff of his cigarette, takes it out, and nods.**

**DEAN**  
**The other people that went missing that year, those bear attacks too?**

**A pause.**

**DEAN**  
**What about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing?**

**A pause.**

**TONY**  
**We knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it.**

"I think he might be close to telling them." Ziva mentioned. "He hasn't been responding to any of their prompts, so he is definitely shocked and considering it. Most likely will tell them since there is no reason not to."

"Unless he'd prefer to keep it locked all the way in the past." McGee commented. "And he might not want to seem like a crazy person."

"They were the one prompting it!" she argued back.

 **SHAW**  
**I seriously doubt that. Anyways, I don't see what difference it would make.**

**SHAW sits down.**

**SHAW**  
**You wouldn't believe me. Nobody ever did.**

"So he did try to tell people." McGee grinned in victory. "Hey, boss, is there any chance we might be able to get some records of this?"

Gibbs shrugged. "Might not be recorded."

"But if they are?"

"You would need a reason probably." the former sniper continued.

The tech wiz furrowed his brow. "But I thought he said it was public record."

"Then look at it, McGee!" Gibbs snapped at him, tired of answering his questions.

"Yes, boss."

**SAM sits down across from SHAW. TONY and DEAN shoot each other a glance.**

**SAM**  
**Mr. Shaw, what did you see?**

**SHAW pauses.**

**SHAW**  
**Nothing. It moved too fast to see. It hid too well. I heard it, though. A roar. Like...no man or animal I ever heard.**

"I'm going to write this stuff down." Jimmy announced. "But what should I title it? We don't know what it's called yet..."

"Why don't you just leave the title space blank for now, Mr. Palmer and go back once we know what it is to fill it in." Ducky suggested.

Jimmy nodded and wrote all this information down.

 **SAM**  
**It came at night?**

**SHAW nods.**

**SAM**  
**Got inside your tent?**

 **SHAW**  
**It got inside our cabin. I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn't smash a window or break the door. It unlocked it. Do you know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn't even wake up till I heard my parents screaming.**

Abby winced. "It's intelligent enough to unlock it?"

"Apparently," McGee looked grim.

"Scary,"

"Yeah,"

 **SAM**  
**It killed them?**

 **SHAW**  
**Dragged them off into the night.**

"Like it did to all those boys in the beginning." Fornell talked to himself.

"I wonder how long that thing's life span is." Abby mentioned.

The other agents could only shrug.

"I don't think even the hunters would know. They'd have a vague idea of when it started from public records, but they wouldn't just leave it alive. If they knew it was there, they would have killed it, right? I don't think one has ever been found dead either; that would certainly make the news." Jimmy stated.

"Very good, Mr. Palmer!" Ducky grinned proudly.

"Thank you, Dr. Mallard." Jimmy smiled.

**SHAW shakes his head.**

**SHAW**  
**Why it left me alive...been asking myself that ever since.**

"Maybe because he was a child?" Ziva proposed.

"I don't think whatever it was would have that kind of morals." Fornell said doubtfully.

McGee winced. "Perhaps it wasn't hungry anymore?"

"I still think it would have taken him if that was the case." the FBI agent continued

**A pause. SHAW's hands go to his collar.**

**SHAW**  
**Did leave me this, though.**

**SHAW opens his collar to reveal three long scars. Claw marks. SAM, TONY, and DEAN look at them.**

The agents winced again. He must have been traumatized.

Abby, ever the scientist, looked at the claw marks curiously. "You think we could get relative size and shape of the claws from that?"

"It's possible." Ducky responded, and McGee snapped a photo of the moment.

"Is it possible that the claw size and shape could vary between the creatures?" Jimmy voiced his concerns.

"I mean, I guess." the forensic scientist shrugged. "We don't really know anything for sure about the supernatural unless it is distinctly stated; I don't think logic would work. It would give us something to go off of though."

 **SHAW**  
**There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of a demon.**

"You think it's actually a demon." McGee inquired.

"Oh, I hope so." Abby leaned forward. Knowing for certain that the supernatural existed was basically her lifelong dream.

###  ** LATER **

**_INT. MOTEL? – NIGHT_ **

**DEAN, TONY, and SAM walk the length of a corridor with rooms on either side.**

**DEAN**  
**Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. If they want inside, they just go through the walls.**

"Oh," Abby pouted.

"At least they limited the search!" McGee tried to be hopeful.

Jimmy nodded. "I'm going to write that fact down." he scribbled it on the paper.

"They'll probably come across demons sometime, Abby." Ziva awkwardly comforted the forensic scientist. It wasn't everyday you had to comfort someone because there were no demons.

 **SAM**  
**So it's probably something else, something corporeal.**

 **DEAN**  
**Corporeal? Excuse me, professor.**

McGee snorted. "Dean and Tony could be twins with these similarities."

**TONY laughs.**

**TONY  
Professor Sam Winchester. Got a ring to it, no? Always such a geek.**

Now, the tech wiz grimaced. "And I'm sure that Sam and I will get along so well if they don't shoot us on sight."

"Why would they shoot us on sight?" Ziva cocked her head to the side. "Tony knows it is us, right?"

"Maybe there is some supernatural creature that can mimic a person's appearance and voice." Abby hypothesized excitedly. "Or maybe possession of some kind!"

Fornell nodded. "Both are likely, but the Winchesters would most likely do some test before gunning us down." he grimaced.

**TONY gives a cheeky grin.**

**SAM**  
**Shut up. So what do you think?**

 **DEAN**  
**The claws, the speed that it moves...could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog. Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature, and it's corporeal. Which means we can kill it.**

"And he said the word too!" McGee pointed out.

**TONY  
Corporeal.**

"For once, you and Tony picked up on the same thing." Jimmy pointed out.

The tech wiz nodded, grinning a bit.

**DEAN  
Shut up.**

**_EXT. PARKING LOT – NIGHT_ **

**DEAN opens the trunk of the Impala, then the weapons box, and props it open with a shotgun. He puts some guns in a duffel bag. SAM leans in.**

The agents surprised themselves with the ease at which they were able to look at the arsenal.

 **SAM**  
**We cannot let that Haley girl go out there.**

"Good thought, and a good idea." Abby nodded furiously.

"But how would the convince her?" Gibbs prompted. "It's not like they can deny her entry legally, and it isn't like they are about to explain why exactly she can't go." he resisted the urge to rub his jaw. That was way too much talking in one go.

The forensic scientist blinked in surprise at him speaking so much before excitedly going on. "Good point, Gibbs!" she beamed. "Must be the Gibbsyness. They can give her all these warnings and such; like, they could tell her that twenty grizzly bears were seen in the last week or something." she gestured frantically.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at the unlikelihood of what she said actually happening. "Haley Collins seems like the person who would want to go in even more if she heard that in order to get to her brother."

"Yeah, I guess...." Abby continued to think this over.

 **DEAN**  
**Oh yeah? What are we gonna tell her? That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?**

 **SAM**  
**Yeah.**

**DEAN looks at SAM.**

**DEAN**  
**Her brother's missing, Sam. She's not gonna just sit this out. Now we go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend.**

Gibbs nodded at Dean's reasoning.

**TONY  
We could make it a crime scene. I've got some tape-**

Fornell raised an eyebrow. "And, pray tell, why would DiNotzo have crime scene tape with him?"

Vance shrugged. "It might just be something we have to let him of the hook for. All three of them seem to be doing some illegal activities, and while it isn't illegal to have it on him, it would be to deny entry to a place with it when there isn't even a crime scene. Besides, he has good intentions, so it'll be easy to let him off the hook."

**DEAN  
That would make her panic.**

**TONY pauses.**

**TONY  
We could tell her that it is unrelated.**

"She wouldn't believe that." Ziva shook her head. "I believe that Tony is...grasping at toothpicks."

"Grasping at straws," McGee subconsciously corrected.

"That too." she gestured and nodded in agreement.

**DEAN  
You expect her to believe that?**

**TONY  
No.**

"At least he knows." McGee grinned a bit.

**DEAN picks up the duffel.**

**SAM**  
**Finding Dad's not enough?**

**SAM slams the weapons box shut, then the trunk.**

**SAM**  
**Now we gotta babysit too?**

The agents blinked in surprise though they knew they shouldn't be. Sam seemed to have taken a near 180 degree turn in how he deals with things and his personality. They knew it was because of Jess's death and that it was his way of coping so to say, but that didn't stop them from looking at him in surprise.

Gibbs, however, didn't look all that surprised or concerned. In fact, neither did Vance. They both knew how it felt to lose a spouse specifically, and they knew the toll it took on the person.

**DEAN stares at SAM.**

**SAM**  
**What?**

 **DEAN**  
**Nothing.**

**He throws the duffel bag at SAM and walks off. SAM stares after him.**

###  ** FOREST **

**_EXT. FOREST – DAY_ **

**A MAN, ROY, talks to HALEY (who is wearing shorts) and BEN while checking a shotgun. They're all carrying full backpacks.**

"I'm guessing that that is the guy Haley hired?" Jimmy pointed him out.

"That, Mr. Palmer, would be a wise assumption," Ducky chuckled at him.

 **ROY**  
**I'll tell you again, I don't think Ben should come.**

 **HALEY**  
**Roy—**

 **ROY**  
**Look, you're paying me good money to keep everybody safe. I think Ben's safest at home.**

Gibbs nodded. Ben did look kind of out of place. He wasn't exactly built for this sort of thing, and he was the youngest of the Collins family. He looked almost too young to be in a place like this. He definitely thought that Ben should go home, just like Roy said, but for some odd reason, he really doubted that that would happen. That family was always needed to be together, and they weren't exactly together if all three of them were by themselves. That didn't make it a good idea though.

**The Impala pulls up. ROY, HALEY, and BEN stare. HALEY shakes her head. SAM, TONY, and DEAN get out of the car. SAM opens the back door of the Impala and pulls out the duffel bag.**

**DEAN**  
**You guys got room for three more?**

"They don't exactly look like rangers, do they?" Abby winced. "If they agree to work with us, we'll definitely have to get them better resources for aliases and such. That is going to get them caught."

"Or at least arouse suspicion." McGee nodded along.

Vance pondered over this before coming to his decision. "All right. If the Winchesters decide to work a supernatural division, then we'll have to equip them properly."

 **HALEY**  
**Wait, you want to come with us?**

 **ROY**  
**Who are these guys?**

 **HALEY**  
**Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for the search and rescue.**

"You know, she doesn't sound all too impressed." McGee tutted. "I bet that disappointed a certain two someones."

"Let me guess," Abby pretended to think. "Sam and Ben?"

The tech wiz shook his head, grinning.

"Tean and Dony?"

"Close, but no cigar." McGee continued. Ziva made a mental note of this phrase.

"Hmmm...is it Tony and Dean?"

"Ding ding ding!" the tech wiz clapped his hands together.

**SAM heads past everyone.**

**ROY**  
**You're rangers?**

 **DEAN**  
**That's right.**

 **HALEY**  
**And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?**

"Exactly." Abby looked satisfied. "Though, I guess he could argue having some sort of grass allergy or something."

**DEAN looks down at himself.**

**DEAN**  
**Well, sweetheart, I don't do shorts.**

"Or, he could say that." the forensic scientist looked amused.

**DEAN heads past HALEY. TONY follows.**

**ROY**  
**What, you think this is funny? It's dangerous back country out there. Her brother might be hurt.**

Gibbs agreed silently to himself once more. This perspective wasn't exactly putting Roy in the best light, but he was trying to keep his charges safe. He was just ignorant; this was just the view the Winchesters got of him, he supposed. Roy was doing his job, and it must have been difficult doing his job when there were not only supernatural creatures he had no idea existed but also three hunters who were lying about their identities and status.

Despite this, his gut told him that Roy would not make it out okay. He wasn't positive what would happen, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he might become this creature's victim somehow.

**SAM turns back.**

**DEAN**  
**Believe me, I know how dangerous it can be. We just wanna help them find their brother, that's all.**

**DEAN heads past SAM.**

**TONY  
We might not look it, but we know what we are doing. Especially in this situation. Got it?**

"Got it." Abby nodded dutifully. "Listen to the great and powerful Tony. Tony knows all."

"Don't say that around him." McGee stage-whispered his warning. "It would inflate his head even more than it already is."

**TONY follows his brothers.**

###  ** MINE **

**_INT. MINE – DAY_ **

**A mine shaft lets in light. TOM and GARY are hanging by their wrists from the ceiling. There are assorted corpses with them. Growling. GARY spots a tall skinny shape and starts yelling. TOMMY does his best to turn away and does close his eyes tightly as GARY yells.**

The agents looked horrified at what they saw; it happened so quickly that they weren't able to look away fast enough.

When Gibbs spoke, his voice held no emotion. "Palmer, add Gary to the list of victims." he hoped that Tom would at least make it out.

Jimmy did so without speaking out of respect for him.

"And add the vague outline to the notes as well." Gibbs put on his glasses and analyzed it with a critical eye. "Tall and skinny. Humanoid?" he offered.

He added these down on the paper as well.

##  ** ACT TWO **

###  ** FOREST **

**_EXT. FOREST – DAY_ **

**The group hikes through the forest, ROY in the lead, then DEAN, HALEY, TONY, BEN, and SAM bringing up the rear.**

**DEAN**  
**Roy, you said you did a little hunting.**

 **ROY**  
**Yeah, more than a little.**

"He does look experienced." Ziva agreed. "Experienced in hunting normal things at least."

"Yeah," Abby grinned a bit, trying to get herself to feel better after that last scene. Why were they seeing so many deaths here? It was part of there job, but it was only the second hunt they've seen. Many people have already been brutally murdered. Just how many deaths were they going to see by the time this was done? Each and every person who died had a family and friends who grieved for their loss, and most of them never knew how that person died. It was depressing.

"I don't think a very large percentage of people are experienced hunting the supernatural." Vance inputted. "Even smaller than the percentage of people who know about their existence."

 **DEAN**  
**Uh-huh. What kind of furry critters do you hunt?**

 **ROY**  
**Mostly buck, sometimes bear.**

**DEAN passes ROY.**

**DEAN**  
**Tell me, uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?**

"Gosh, you can practically smell the testosterone from here!" Abby waved her hand in front of her nose for dramatic effect. "It's like they are trying to duke it out to see who is leading the group."

"That probably is what they are doing." Ziva replied. "Due to Roy's occupation, he is probably used to leading groups of people in this area, and Dean seems like he is normally either hunting by himself or generally the one in charge. Sam does seem responsible, and he does have some input in their decisions." she granted. "But Dean seems to be the one who is slightly more protective. Sam knows Dean can take care of himself, but I think Dean still sees a ten year old that has to be protected when he looks at Sam."

"Good point, Ziva." Ducky complimented. "It certainly seems like Dean is used to taking care of Sam; it gives me reason to believe that he was in charge of raising him from a very young age. Forced to grow up and take responsibility to feed and clothe him."

This made the agents even more angry at John Winchester. The man probably left his two sons for days at the time when they were both still young children! John was obsessed with the hunt, and he did not put his children first. This caused Gibbs to briefly evaluate the similarities between them, but he decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to dwell on it.

**ROY grabs DEAN. SAM looks on. TONY sighs.**

**DEAN**  
**Whatcha doing, Roy?**

**ROY grabs a stick and pokes the bear trap DEAN had almost stepped in. HALEY looks annoyed.**

"She is definitely suspicious." Abby grimaced. "If their car or their clothes didn't give it away, that definitely did."

 **ROY**  
**You should watch where you're stepping. Ranger.**

**ROY drops the stick and retakes the lead.**

**DEAN**  
**It's a bear trap.**

McGee grinned a bit. "Sometimes the Winchesters do seem to point out the obvious."

"An endearing quality." Ducky looked nostalgic. "That reminds me of a time when I was a young man-"

For some reason, the television did not pause for him to finish his story.

**TONY  
Good eye, Princess.**

**DEAN  
Shhhh.**

**They hike on. HALEY catches up to DEAN.**

**HALEY**  
**You didn't pack any provisions. You guys are carrying a _duffel_ bag. You're not rangers.**

"Well, that lie is spent." Abby winced.

"You think they are going to get kicked out or arrested?" McGee asked her.

The forensic scientist thought this over. "It depends on what they do to get out of this situation."

**HALEY grabs DEAN's arm.**

**HALEY**  
**So who the hell are you?**

**BEN goes past HALEY and DEAN. SAM looks at DEAN, who indicates with his expression that SAM's to go on by; SAM obeys. DEAN watches him go for a moment. TONY, however, sticks behind.**

**DEAN  
Tony? What?**

**TONY holds up a badge.**

"Well," Abby blinked. "That should be able to get them out of it. Though it may cause her to panic."

**TONY  
NCIS. We are here in relation to an ongoing case originating in Norfolk. The three of us decided that it would be unwise to tell you what we are doing here when you are obviously so concerned for the wellbeing of your brother. News of the case might cause you extra stress, and that would not be a good idea.**

"That isn't a bad lie." Gibbs commented. "They have legitimate evidence backing up their claim that isn't faked."

"Though it may cause her to panic." Fornell responded. "She might think that her brother's and his friend's disappearances are somehow related and act rashly."

The former sniper nodded in agreement.

 **DEAN**  
**So we okay?**

**A pause.**

**HALEY**  
**Yeah, okay. But how did you get those ranger badges?**

Vance narrowed his eyes, thinking about an excuse they could make that would be legal.

 

**TONY  
They owed NCIS for a favor we did for them a while back, so we got something to help us.**

**DEAN**  
**And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?**

**DEAN pulls out a big bag of peanut M &Ms and sticks his hand in the bag as he hikes on. TONY laughs and follows. HALEY waits a moment, then follows.**

"Ah, yes. A feast of kings." McGee laughed at the provisions.

Ducky straightened his back slightly. "Tony does seem to exhibit similar eating habits to Sam and Dean despite being able to afford better quality foods."

"Maybe he's doing it out of habit or nostalgia?" Ziva offered.

"Perhaps, or maybe he just doesn't want to try new things." the medical examiner explained. "You'll soon find that not everything has to be explained psychologically.

###  ** LATER **

**_EXT. FOREST – DAY_ **

**ROY leads the way, followed by SAM, BEN, TONY, HALEY, and DEAN.**

**ROY**  
**This is it. Blackwater Ridge.**

**SAM heads past ROY.**

**SAM**  
**What coordinates are we at?**

**ROY pulls out a GPS, which reads N 35 o 45.383, W 111o 00.55.**

**ROY**  
**Thirty-five and minus one-eleven.**

**DEAN comes up to SAM. They listen.**

**DEAN**  
**You hear that?**

"There is nothing." Abby tried to listen for whatever they were hearing.

**TONY  
Nothing at all.**

"Oh," the forensic scientist grinned a little to herself.

 **SAM**  
**Yeah. Not even crickets.**

 **ROY**  
**I'm gonna go take a look around.**

 **SAM**  
**You shouldn't go off by yourself.**

 **ROY**  
**That's sweet. Don't worry about me.**

"He should really listen to them." Jimmy stated nervously.

"While that is true, he didn't have a reason to. He doesn't know the supernatural exists, and he doesn't believe they are legitimate rangers." Ducky patiently explained. "I don't fault him for not heeding their warnings. If I were him, I don't think I would either; Roy knows the area. Sam, Dean, and Tony are newcomers who don't have the necessary skills to back up all their claims."

**ROY waves his gun and pushes between DEAN and SAM to retake the lead. DEAN turns back to the others as BEN and HALEY catch up.**

**DEAN**  
**All right, everybody stays together. Let's go.**

###  ** CAMPSITE **

**_EXT. FOREST – DAY_ **

**SAM, DEAN, BEN, TONY, and HALEY are looking around near a large rock.**

**ROY**  
**Haley! Over here!**

**HALEY runs towards ROY's voice, followed closely by the others. They come to a halt.**

**HALEY**  
**Oh my God.**

**The tents are torn open and bloody and all the supplies are scattered.**

The agents shivered at the reminder of the attack that was shown earlier. Despite this, they observed the crime scene carefully and even took some pictures. Gibbs couldn't have been prouder.

"Well," McGee made a face. "Whatever it was certainly knew what it was going for."

 **ROY**  
**Looks like a grizzly.**

**DEAN and HALEY look around.**

**HALEY**  
**Tommy?**

"That's not a good idea." Ziva grimaced. "What if it hears her?"

"Then, they are probably dead." Abby answered. "Tony, Dean, and Sam don't even know what they are dealing with yet. They know what it is corporeal, so they could theoretically shoot it. But still..." she hesitated. "It wouldn't be pretty."

**TONY  
Shh.**

**HALEY takes off her backpack and goes through the campsite.**

**HALEY**  
**Tommy!**

**SAM moves to catch up with HALEY.**

**SAM**  
**Shh.**

 **HALEY**  
**Tommy!**

"Haley doesn't seem to be good at the whole silent thing." Jimmy grimaced.

"In her defense, she is more concerned about finding her brother." McGee defended. "Though, she can't find her brother if she's dead."

 **SAM**  
**Shh-hh-hh!**

 **HALEY**  
**Why?**

 **SAM**  
**Something might still be out there.**

"How ominous," Abby tried to make light of the situation.

 **DEAN**  
**Sam!**

**SAM goes over to DEAN and TONY, snapping a stick, and crouches next to him.**

**DEAN**  
**The bodies were dragged from the campsite. But here, the tracks just vanish. That's weird.**

"Maybe it went into the trees?" McGee offered. "It certainly seems like it is intelligent enough, agile enough, and fast enough to be able to."

"It probably can." Ziva agreed. "But it might not be a good idea to write that down until we know for sure." she warned Jimmy, who was readying his pen.

**DEAN, TONY, and SAM stand up.**

**DEAN**  
**I'll tell you what, that's no skinwalker or black dog.**

"Two more things crossed off the list!" Abby cheered.

"Now, they don't have a suspect." McGee reminded.

The forensic scientist nodded. "Yeah, but they did narrow the search. Trying to be optimistic, here!"

The tech wiz laughed.

"I'm going to make new pages for both skinwalkers and black dogs." Jimmy notified. "Just in case they don't come up again in this." he wrote both on the top of two pages.

**DEAN goes back to the campsite and SAM follows. HALEY picks up TOM's cell phone; it's bloody. She cries. She turns the phone over and the back is open. DEAN crouches next to her.**

The agents looked to Haley in sympathy. It must be hard for her; she must be assuming the worst.

 **DEAN**  
**Hey, he could still be alive.**

**HALEY gives DEAN a Look.**

**SOMEONE**  
**Help! Help!**

"Someone's out there!" Jimmy sat up. "But why would it be so close to the campsite? A creature as intelligent as that one is probably wouldn't do that."

Gibbs agreed. That cry for help didn't feel right in his gut.

**ROY leads the way as everyone runs to the aid of the shouter.**

**SOMEONE**  
**Help! Somebody!**

**They find no one.**

"Where did they go?" Abby looked disappointed. She hoped that they would be able to save whoever that was.

 **HALEY**  
**It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?**

**They listen.**

**SAM**  
**Everybody back to camp.**

**Back at the campsite, all the supplies are missing.**

Gibbs suddenly understood what had happened. "The creature must have created that noise somehow and used it as a distraction to isolate the group."

"That assumption would be giving the creature a large amount of intelligence." Vance groaned. "If it got out that this creature could talk and communicate with people, there would be some people purposefully going out to try to make contact. Others would probably want to give them rights as well; same for spirits and such."

"But they are dangerous. It is in their nature to do these things from the looks of it." Ziva argued.

"Some people would still want to." the director shrugged.

 **HALEY**  
**Our packs!**

 **ROY**  
**So much for my GPS and my satellite phone.**

**TONY and DEAN glance at each other.**

"At least that is another category they can use to narrow the search." Abby was the optimistic one again.

 **HALEY**  
**What the hell is going on?**

 **SAM**  
**It's smart. It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help.**

 **ROY**  
**You mean someone, some nutjob out there just stole all our gear.**

**SAM goes to DEAN and TONY.**

**SAM**  
**I need to speak with you two. In private.**

"I think he's figured it out." the forensic scientist leaned forward in anticipation.

Jimmy readied his pen.

**SAM, TONY, and DEAN head a little ways away from the group.**

**SAM**  
**Good. Let me see Dad's journal.**

**DEAN hands it over. SAM opens it and flips through until he finds a particular page.**

**SAM**  
**All right, check that out.**

**SAM points to a First Nations–style drawing of a figure.**

**DEAN**  
**Oh come on, wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or, or northern Michigan. I've never even heard of one this far west.**

"So, it is a wendigo?" Jimmy frowned. "Never heard of that before." he wrote it down anyway on the title spot.

"It is a part of Algonquian folklore." Ducky informed. "A cannibal monster."

Jimmy nodded, writing down the location they are generally found in and some of the distinguishing features.

"It's disturbing how Dean has never seen this one so far west." Ducky frowned. "Similar to what I said for the women in white, it appears that the wendigos are spreading as well. Which makes sense, I suppose. As the center of the United States population moves generally west, more and more of the creatures associated with people would start appearing in those places as well."

The agents looked at each other. How many of these species were spreading? Could they do anything to prevent this?

**TONY  
Still worth considering.**

**SAM**  
**Think about it, Dean, the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice.**

 **DEAN**  
**Great.**

**DEAN takes out his pistol.**

**DEAN**  
**Well then this is useless.**

"Why?" Jimmy scribbled this down.

Abby shrugged. "I don't know, but we probably will in a little bit."

**TONY  
Anybody got any matches?**

**DEAN pulls out a box.**

**DEAN  
It'd be risky to use it though. I'd prefer to find something else if you ask me.**

"Then, it would be fire, yes?" Ziva turned to Jimmy.

"I guess," he wrote this down.

**TONY  
Good, 'cause I didn't.**

**TONY plucks the box off of him.**

**DEAN  
Tony!**

**TONY  
Shhh. Only as a backup.**

The agents looked at this in an amused manner, and Ducky made a nostalgic comment about brothers once more.

**SAM gives DEAN back John's journal and heads past DEAN, stopping for a moment.**

**SAM**  
**We gotta get these people to safety.**

**Back at the campsite, SAM addresses the group.**

**SAM**  
**All right, listen up, it's time to go. Things have gotten...more complicated.**

Gibbs nodded gravely. This thing sounded very dangerous. It should be the first priority to get the civilians out of there; he remembered Roy and groaned slightly. He was not going to take being bossed around easily.

 **HALEY**  
**What?**

 **ROY**  
**Kid, don't worry. Whatever's out there, I think I can handle it.**

"I don't think so." Abby stated, more to herself than anyone else.

"What does your gut say, boss?" McGee inquired.

Gibbs glanced at his agent before saying "Roy probably isn't going to make it out of Blackwater Ridge alive."

At that, the agents winced and looked genuinely concerned. That meant another murder. Great. Gibbs's gut was never wrong after all.

 **SAM**  
**It's not me I'm worried about. If you shoot this thing, you're just gonna make it mad. We have to leave. Now.**

"So, what, is it's hide bulletproof?" McGee questioned.

"Probably." Abby's eyes had science in them already. "Imagine all the things we could learn from these creatures! We could get so much knowledge from them, and we could potentially cure many diseases! People could live longer as a result. Though," she grimaced. "I don't think anyone wants to get close enough to find any of this stuff. All of it is hypothetical, so we could lose more people than we save if we attempt it."

 **ROY**  
**One, you're talking nonsense. Two, you're in no position to give anybody orders.**

 **DEAN**  
**Relax.**

 **SAM**  
**We never should have let you come out here in the first place, all right? I'm trying to protect you.**

**ROY steps right into SAM's space.**

**ROY**  
**You protect me? I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you good night.**

The agents winced. Did he have to bring up the Winchester's mother? They knew that he didn't know what happened to her, but it did seem a little cruel to bring it up. They remembered how Dean reacted last hunt when Sam mentioned it, and Sam was Dean's baby brother.

 **SAM**  
**Yeah? It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you, and it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid sorry ass out of here.**

**ROY laughs.**

**ROY**  
**You know you're crazy, right?**

**TONY pushes SAM.**

**TONY  
These disappearances are now under NCIS jurisdiction.**

Abby bit her lip. "Remember when I mentioned the large amount of testosterone earlier? I spoke too soon; this seen has a lot of it too."

"Tony does love being very dramatic." McGee agreed.

**TONY flashes his badge.**

**TONY  
It could be related to a string of similar cases that have been progressively moving west with each one. Same memo each time. Same circumstances. Started in Norfolk, Roanoke, Lexington, Evansville, Kansas City, Wichita, Colorado Springs. So yes, Roy, I think we are in a position to give orders.**

Gibbs checked this over in his mental map. Tony was right; those cities were getting progressively more and more west. He had to give his senior field agent some credit; not a lot of people could list those cities in order from east to west.

"Impressive." Ziva smirked a bit. "And with such specific cities, they should believe it."

"Rule 7," McGee grinned. "Always be specific when you lie."

 **HALEY**  
**Roy!**

**DEAN  
Woah.**

"And Dean somehow sensed the testosterone too!" Abby laughed a bit.

 **HALEY**  
**Stop. Stop it. Everybody just stop. Look. Tommy might still be alive. And I'm not leaving here without him.**

**A long pause.**

**DEAN**  
**It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it, not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves.**

 **HALEY**  
**How?**

Jimmy made a subcategory titled "Protection" on the paper and looked forward eagerly. This thing seemed dangerous, and it certainly was intimidating. He wanted to know exactly how to defend both himself and others from this monster.

##  ** ACT THREE **

###  ** CAMPSITE **

**_EXT. FOREST – NIGHT_ **

**The group has built a campfire, and DEAN draws something in the dirt around the campsite while HALEY pokes at the fire.**

"...Pictures help ward off the wendigo?" Ziva cocked her head to the side.

"They probably have some supernatural significance." Abby quickly sketched the general design of the symbols in the dirt. "They could be banishment sigils, but I don't think they work like that. Or it could just be setting up a barrier, similar to the salt lines." she passed the sketches to Jimmy who attached them to the sheet he was writing on.

 **HALEY**  
**One more time, that's—**

 **DEAN**  
**Anasazi symbols. It's for protection. The wendigo can't cross over them.**

Jimmy scribbled their name on the paper under his subcategory. He was dutifully taking notes; this was very important. It could potentially save many people's lives and prevent innocent people from being arrested for crimes they didn't commit.

**ROY laughs, gun over his shoulder.**

**DEAN**  
**Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy.**

**DEAN heads over to sit next to SAM, who is at the edge of the campsite.**

**DEAN**  
**You wanna tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?**

"Brother-" Abby started singing to herself, but she quickly realized what she was doing and stopped.

McGee had a raised eyebrow.

"What?" the forensic scientist defended. "It seemed appropriate for the situation at hand."

 **SAM**  
**Dean—**

 **DEAN**  
**No, you're not fine. You're like a powder keg, man, it's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?**

The agents didn't comment. This was obviously a very private moment between brothers, and they felt out of place.

**A pause.**

**SAM**  
**Dad's not here. I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message, a sign, right?**

"John Winchester." Abby had an evil look on her face.

"Why would John abandon his children like that?" Ziva frowned, knowing all about dads similar to that. "Obviously, he knew that they would go to where he set the coordinates. What is he, a doll master?"

"Puppet master," McGee corrected. "But yeah," he scowled.

 **DEAN**  
**Yeah, you're probably right. Tell you the truth, I don't think Dad's ever been to Lost Creek.**

 **SAM**  
**Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road. Go find Dad. I mean, why are we still even here?**

"To save them." Fornell stated.

Gibbs related to what Sam was feeling. He knew what it was like to be so focused on avenging the death of a spouse, and in his case his daughter, that they stop trying to help other people and stop having the compassion to save others. He knew that Sam wasn't likely to stop until he either found a way to move on or succeed in killing whatever killed Jessica Lee Moore.

Ducky glanced over at his friend once more. He seemed to be having a lot of negative thoughts while watching this; he should definitely have a talk with him later.

 **DEAN**  
**This is why.**

**DEAN comes around to SAM's front and holds up John's journal.**

**DEAN**  
**This book. This is Dad's single most valuable possession—everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it on to us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know, saving people, hunting things. The family business.**

"That could be on a billboard." Abby commented.

"It is quite catchy, isn't it?" Ziva agreed.

**SAM shakes his head.**

**SAM**  
**That makes no sense. Why doesn't he just—call us? Why doesn't he—tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?**

"That's what I want to know too." the forensic scientist's face was suddenly shrouded in darkness once more. "Though I'd also like to punch him right in the-"

The television started again before she could finish.

 **DEAN**  
**I dunno. But the way I see it, Dad's giving us a job to do, and I intend to do it.**

 **SAM**  
**Dean...no. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about.**

Gibbs nodded along to this, and the other agents sent Sam looks of sympathy.

 **DEAN**  
**Okay, all right, Sam, we'll find them, I promise. Listen to me. You've gotta prepare yourself. I mean, this search could take a while, and all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul. It's gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man.**

**SAM looks down, then up.**

**SAM**  
**How do you do it? How does Dad do it?**

**DEAN looks over at HALEY and BEN. TONY is with them, trying to make his lie seem more believable by asking questions.**

"Now, that lie is probably going to last longer." Ziva mentioned.

"At least until they have to explain that they were hunting the wendigo." Jimmy put in.

She considered this. "Yes, but don't they usually want try to keep others from knowing exactly what is going on?"

Palmer nodded. "But they are very close together, and with something as dangerous as the wendigo, they wouldn't leave a group of civilians defenseless in the woods."

"Good point." Ziva nodded. "I guess we should be able to talk to them, then. Assuming they are alive." the last part sounded depressing coming off her tongue, and it was.

 **DEAN**  
**Well for one, them.**

**SAM looks over at HALEY and BEN.**

**DEAN**  
**I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little bit more bearable.**

"A valiant cause." Ducky commented, but no one else spoke up during this brotherly moment.

**A pause.**

**DEAN**  
**I'll tell you what else helps.**

**SAM looks back at DEAN.**

**DEAN**  
**Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can.**

"That must feel good." McGee grinned.

"Yeah, but I think it would be lonely too." Abby considered. "No one would ever know what you've seen and done. You would have a very small percentage of the population to relate to."

**SAM smiles.**

**DEAN  
See Tony? He just told a lie that could cost him his job and a whole lot more if it got out. If we leave now, it could be in vain.**

"It could have cost him his job back then." Vance spoke gravely. "Though I think at the time your director was Shepard?"

Gibbs nodded. "I think so. I mean, this was a while ago, and I think this is after Morrow moved to Homeland Security."

**SAM nods.**

**SAM  
He wants to help them, right?**

**DEAN nods as well.**

**DEAN  
Definitely.**

The agents smiled at this. It was simply just who Tony was. He always wanted to help, to do something for the greater good.

**A twig snaps.**

**SOMEONE, presumably the WENDIGO**  
**Help me! Please!**

"That's so freaky now that we know it is a wendigo and not a human." Abby shivered slightly.

**DEAN stands and readies his gun.**

**WENDIGO**  
**Help!**

**SAM shines a flashlight about.**

**DEAN**  
**He's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put.**

 **ROY**  
**Inside the magic circle?**

"Yup," the forensic scientist seemed to be especially talkative. The others assumed that it was due to the never ending supply of Caf Pow that was appearing.

Gibbs couldn't help but point out his fatal flaw. He was unable to accept new ideas, and that will probably lead to his downfall.

**TONY  
It won't come in here.**

**WENDIGO**  
**Help! Help me!**

**Growling.**

**ROY points his gun at the sound.**

**ROY**  
**Okay, that's no grizzly.**

"Yes! Now trust the Winchesters!" Jimmy gestured frantically.

"He can't hear you." McGee spoke almost numbly.

He groaned. "I know, but I still wish he could."

"Yeah," the tech wiz agreed.

**HALEY talks to BEN.**

**HALEY**  
**It's okay. You'll be all right, I promise.**

**Something rushes past. HALEY shrieks.**

**SAM**  
**It's here.**

**ROY shoots at the rustling, then again.**

**ROY**  
**I hit it!**

"Bullets don't affect the wendigo." Ziva recalled.

Gibbs grimaced. His gut was telling him that this was probably when it happened. Roy was probably going to get attacked by this wendigo, and he wasn't going to make it out.

**ROY goes to see what he hit.**

**TONY  
Don't!**

**DEAN**  
**Roy, no! Roy!**

The agents groaned. While it was practically in their job description, they truly didn't like watching people get brutally murdered.

**DEAN turns to HALEY and BEN.**

**DEAN**  
**Don't move.**

**HALEY's holding a stick, burning at one end, as a weapon. DEAN, TONY, and SAM run after ROY.**

**ROY**  
**It's over here! It's in the tree!**

**The WENDIGO reaches down from the tree and snaps ROY's neck.**

Everyone in the room flinched, and the feeling in Gibbs's gut slowly started dying down.

"Adding Roy to the list of victims." Jimmy wrote his name down.

Abby couldn't help but wonder if this was what it was going to be like. While they were watching, were they going to see light-hearted bits slowly dwindle in number as the death toll gets higher and higher?

 **DEAN**  
**Roy!**

**SAM shines the flashlight around, then directly into the camera.**

##  ** ACT FOUR **

###  ** CAMPSITE **

**_EXT. FOREST – DAY_ **

**SAM is sitting against a hollow tree stump, holding John's journal and playing with a lanyard attached to same. DEAN and TONY and HALEY and BEN are among the tents.**

**HALEY**  
**I don't...I mean, these types of things, they aren't supposed to be real.**

"So, they know." Abby stated.

"I wonder if we could talk to them. They might know more details that weren't included in this." McGee proposed.

Vance nodded. "We'll make sure to talk to them whenever we get back." he briefly wondered how long this would take.

Jimmy quickly scribbled down a reminder to talk to them. There were probably going to be a large amount of people; they may not remember the Collins family in particular.

 **DEAN**  
**I wish I could tell you different.**

 **HALEY**  
**How do we know it's not out there watching us?**

 **DEAN**  
**We don't. But we're safe for now.**

 **HALEY**  
**How do you know about this stuff?**

**A pause while DEAN considers.**

**DEAN**  
**Kind of runs in the family.**

The agents looked angry at the reminder. John Winchester had no right to force his children into that way of life; it certainly wasn't an appropriate environment to raise them in.

**HALEY  
What happened to that case thing?**

**TONY groans.**

**TONY  
Also, a lie. You wouldn't have wanted us anywhere near you if we told you the truth. Though I am an agent, so if you two could not...**

**HALEY  
Tell your boss?**

**TONY  
Yeah.**

**TONY looks sheepish.**

"Oh, don't you worry your pretty little head," Gibbs scowled while saying this under his breath. "Boss knows." he referred to himself in the third person.

**HALEY  
All right.**

**TONY  
Thanks.**

**SAM comes over.**

**SAM**  
**Hey.**

**HALEY stands up.**

**SAM**  
**So we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch.**

"It seems as if Sam has had a change in heart." Ducky smiled a little bit. "It seems that being with his brothers is helping him slowly move on. He probably still wants to focus solely on killing the creature, but at least he knows that he shouldn't just leave them to the wendigo."

The agents allowed themselves a smile at the good news.

 **DEAN**  
**Well, hell, you know I'm in.**

**SAM shows the wendigo page of John's journal to HALEY and BEN.**

**SAM**  
**'Wendigo' is a Cree Indian word. It means 'evil that devours'.**

Jimmy wrote this down for good measure. He didn't know exactly how it would help, but it never hurt to have that information.

 **DEAN**  
**They're hundreds of years old. Each one was once a man. Sometimes an Indian, or other times a frontiersman or a miner or hunter.**

Abby winced. "I personally don't want to become a wendigo."

"I'm sure that there is some horrible thing you have to do to get that fate, Abby." Ziva reassured.

"Yeah, but what if it's random?" the forensic scientist looked paranoid.

"Well, we'll soon find out." she responded.

 **HALEY**  
**How's a man turn into one of those things?**

**DEAN picks a couple things up off the ground.**

**DEAN**  
**Well, it's always the same. During some harsh winter a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. Becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp.**

"Oh." Abby looked reassured. "Well, that settles it."

 **BEN**  
**Like the Donner Party.**

**TONY  
Exactly.**

**SAM**  
**Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities. Speed, strength, immortality.**

McGee looked contemplative. "Was it the cultures who got the idea from reality or reality that was shaped by peoples' cultures?"

"Hmmmm...." Abby frowned while thinking. "Maybe both? It's not really important anyhow."

"I know." the tech wiz replied. "Just something to think and wonder about."

"Similar to your egg and chicken connection, yes?" Ziva clarified.

"Yup," Abby grinned and gave a thumbs up.

 **DEAN**  
**If you eat enough of it, over years, you become this less than human thing. You're always hungry.**

 **HALEY**  
**So if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?**

 **DEAN**  
**You're not gonna like it.**

"I think she would if it means her brother is alive." Fornell stated. "Hell, if Emily was taken by something like this, I would be reassured if I was told that it tortured its victims slowly instead of just killing them outright. Trauma can be dealt with by therapists, but therapists cannot bring back the dead."

The agents nodded at this.

"I wonder if there is a way to bring back the dead." Abby wondered out loud.

Gibbs glanced at Abby quickly. "If there is, it probably isn't a good idea to delve into it, Abs."

She pouted. "I guess...but I'm still curious!"

**DEAN glances at SAM, then back to HALEY.**

**HALEY**  
**Tell me.**

 **DEAN**  
**More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It, uh, it stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there.**

Jimmy took note of this.

 **HALEY**  
**And then how do we stop it?**

 **DEAN**  
**Well, guns are useless, so are knives. Basically—**

**DEAN holds up the can of lighter fluid, the beer bottle, and the white cloth he'd picked up.**

**DEAN**  
**We gotta torch the sucker.**

###  ** FOREST **

**_EXT. FOREST – DAY_ **

**DEAN leads the way through the woods, Molotov cocktail in hand. HALEY follows, then BEN, then SAM and TONY. They pass trees with claw marks and blood.**

"For something as intelligent as the wendigo," Ziva mentioned. "That trail does seem a bit obvious, doesn't it?"

"You think it is a trap?" Vance inquired.

"It's likely." she nodded in confirmation.

**_EXT. FOREST – DAY, LATER_ **

**SAM is leading the group now.**

**SAM**  
**Dean.**

**DEAN catches up.**

**DEAN**  
**What is it?**

**SAM and DEAN look around at the trees. There are bloody claw marks and broken branches everywhere.**

**SAM**  
**You know, I was thinking, those claw prints, so clear and distinct. They were almost too easy to follow.**

"Exactly." Ziva nodded.

**TONY  
Like a trap?**

"Exactly!" she repeated a bit louder.

**Growling. SAM and DEAN whip around. Trees rustle.**

**HALEY is standing under a tree. Blood drips on her shirt. She notices and looks up, then leaps out of the way; ROY's corpse lands where she'd stood.**

"Woah!" the agents nearly leapt back in surprise.

"Why didn't it keep Roy's body? You know...to eat." McGee felt weird saying that.

Abby shrugged. "Maybe he'll go back for it later? Or maybe it is pissed that Roy shot at it." she guessed.

**DEAN examines ROY as SAM goes over to HALEY.**

**SAM**  
**You okay? You got it?**

 **DEAN**  
**His neck's broke.**

**TONY  
Why'd it give up the body?**

**DEAN  
Probably'll come back for it.**

**DEAN looks around.**

**SAM helps HALEY up. More growling.**

**DEAN**  
**Okay, run, run, run, run, go, go, go!**

"That's not going to do much to help them...." Ziva winced.

"One can hope." Ducky reminded.

**Everybody takes off.**

**BEN falls and SAM hurries back to help him up, dividing the group.**

"It really wasn't a good idea for Ben to be there." Gibbs grimaced.

Abby nodded. "Yeah, Roy was right."

 **SAM**  
**Come on, I gotcha, I gotcha.**

**DEAN, TONY, and HALEY stop short: the wendigo is in front of them. HALEY screams.**

"Holy sh--" McGee stopped himself before he cussed.

 **BEN**  
**Haley?**

**SAM stops running and picks up Dean's Molotov cocktail, the bottle broken.**

**SAM**  
**Dean! Tony!**

"I hope they were okay..." Abby felt her abbysenses tingling.

##  ** ACT FIVE **

###  ** FOREST **

**_EXT. FOREST – DAY_ **

**BEN**  
**If it keeps its victims alive, why would it kill Roy?**

 **SAM**  
**Honestly? I think because Roy shot at it, pissed it off.**

**BEN finds a trail of peanut M &Ms and picks one up.**

"Well, that's one use for their provisions." Abby laughed.

 **BEN**  
**They went this way.**

**SAM catches up to BEN, who hands over the M &M. SAM laughs.**

**SAM**  
**It's better than breadcrumbs.**

"Agreed." Jimmy nodded solemnly.

"Does that mean that Dean, probably, was conscious while being dragged off?" Ziva inquired.

"Probably." Fornell nodded. "It was a good method of attracting Sam to their location."

"Quite a good method." Ziva agreed.

**SAM tosses the M &M away.**

**SAM and BEN follow the trail. They come to a mine entrance marked with a sign that says WARNING! DANGER! DO NOT ENTER EXTREMELY TOXIC MATERIAL. SAM looks at BEN, shrugs, and goes inside. BEN follows. Above the entrance is a larger sign that says KEEP OUT NO ADMITTANCE.**

"Another thing to be forgiven, I suppose." Vance shook his head with an amused smile. He was no longer surprised by the things he saw the Winchesters doing.

###  ** MINE **

**_INT. MINE – DAY_ **

**SAM shines the flashlight ahead of them. Growling; SAM shuts off the light and pulls BEN against the wall. The WENDIGO comes towards them. SAM covers BEN's mouth before he can scream. The WENDIGO takes a different tunnel at the crossing. SAM and BEN keep going. The floorboards creak and BEN and SAM fall through the floor; they land in a pile of bones. There is another pile nearby of skulls. BEN spots them and leaps backward.**

The agents' eyes flew wide.

"How many do you think this thing has killed?" Abby spoke in barely a whisper.

"Probably a lot." Jimmy grimaced.

 **SAM**  
**Hey, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay.**

**SAM and BEN look up; DEAN, TONY, and HALEY are hanging by their wrists from the ceiling. SAM runs to DEAN and TONY, BEN to HALEY.**

"They're not dead!" Abby did a little victory dance.

Looking back on it, she realized later on how wrong it was that she was celebrating people's survival the same way she would a game of Monopoly.

 **SAM**  
**Dean! Tony!**

 **BEN**  
**Haley, wake up!**

**SAM grabs DEAN and shakes him.**

**SAM**  
**Dean!**

**DEAN opens his eyes.**

**SAM**  
**Hey, you okay?**

**DEAN winces.**

**DEAN**  
**Yeah.**

"Probably more shocked than anything." Ducky reassured the group.

 **BEN**  
**Haley, Haley, wake up, wake up!**

**SAM cuts DEAN and TONY down and BEN takes care of HALEY. They help them over to an empty patch of floor and get them sat down. DEAN makes pained noises.**

**SAM**  
**You sure you're all right?**

**DEAN grimaces.**

**DEAN**  
**Yeah. Yep. Where is he?**

 **SAM**  
**He's gone for now.**

"Good." McGee sighed in relief. "At least they don't have to worry about being brutally attacked while freeing each other."

**TONY groans.**

**SAM  
You okay?**

**TONY  
I think that son of a bitch dislocated my shoulder while tying me up.**

"It's interesting how Tony's language changes when he is around his brothers." Ducky mentioned.

"Yeah," McGee agreed. "He's been using more profanity more often."

Ziva responded. "Sam and Dean are his brothers; he's probably more comfortable around them."

"That shoulder has got to hurt though." Abby winced in sympathy."

**TONY curses.**

**SAM comes over and kneels by his brother.**

**SAM  
Which one?**

**He readies himself to fix it.**

**TONY  
Right. Though don't fix it now.**

**SAM looks confused.**

**SAM  
Why not?**

**TONY  
We don't need my screams of agony to alert the wendigo, do we? I thought Professor Winchester would have guessed that. (teasing)**

"I guess that is right." Jimmy looked hesitant.

"I wish he let Sam fix it. It must hurt a lot." Abby wore her heart on her sleeve.

Ziva tutted. "Better to be alive with a dislocated shoulder than dead with a good one."

"I know, but I still wish I could just" she clenched and unclenched her fists at the screen in some sort of gesture. "Fix him."

She laughed. "Me too." Ziva agreed.

**SAM  
Just being a good brother.**

**TONY  
I'd rather be in pain for a short while and live than not be in pain for a little bit before we all die.**

**HALEY divests herself of rope. She stands up and spots TOM still hanging and starts crying.**

**HALEY**  
**Tommy...**

**HALEY touches TOM's cheek. TOM's head jerks up. HALEY jumps back and shrieks. She turns to SAM.**

"He lived." Fornell grinned in victory.

 **HALEY**  
**Cut him down!**

**SAM cuts TOM down.**

**HALEY**  
**We're gonna get you home.**

**The stolen supplies are piled in the corner. DEAN picks up flare guns.**

"Those should beat a wendigo, right?" McGee confirmed. "I mean, they are flame based."

"They should work." Gibbs nodded. "They'd have to actually hit it though."

 **DEAN**  
**Check it out.**

 **SAM**  
**Flare guns. Those'll work.**

**SAM grins. DEAN laughs and twirls the guns. He offers on to TONY, but he shakes his head.**

**TONY  
Won't be able to shoot straight with this dumb shoulder.**

"Dislocated shoulder and nothing to defend himself with?" Abby grumbled to herself. She knew that Tony was okay after this, but she still wished it was different.

**DEAN nods and tosses it to SAM instead.**

**They head down a tunnel, DEAN and SAM in the lead with the flare guns and HALEY and BEN supporting TOM, who is limping.**

**Growling.**

**DEAN**  
**Looks like someone's home for supper.**

 **HALEY**  
**We'll never outrun it.**

**DEAN looks back at the others.**

**DEAN**  
**You thinking what I'm thinking?**

 **SAM**  
**Yeah, I think so.**

"What are they planning?" Jimmy looked suspicious.

"Probably something dangerous." Ziva narrowed her eyes. "Risky. Something that we probably wouldn't let happen."

 **DEAN**  
**All right, listen to me. Stay with Sam. He's gonna get you out of here.**

 **HALEY**  
**What are you gonna do?**

**DEAN winks and starts walking and yelling.**

**DEAN**  
**Chow time, you freaky bastard! Yeah, that's right, bring it on, baby, I taste _good_.**

"A distraction?" McGee looked incredulous. "Yeah, we definitely wouldn't let that happen. Too risky."

"It is kind of brave, though." Abby couldn't help but comment. "And of course, what he is actually saying is quite amusing. Doesn't change the fact that what he is doing is unnecessarily dangerous, however." she frowned.

**The rest of DEAN's words are indistinct.**

**SAM waits until DEAN is a safe distance away.**

**SAM**  
**All right, come on! Hurry!**

**The Collinses follow SAM down the tunnel. TONY takes the rear, lighting one of the matches he had stolen from his brother earlier in defense.**

"I guess he's not completely defenseless." Abby considered this.

"Not a very good defense." Gibbs snarled to himself.

The forensic scientist nodded. "The wendigo could probably take him out still." she didn't sound very happy.

**_INT. MINE – DAY_ **

**DEAN**  
**Hey, you want some white meat, bitch! I'm right here!**

**_INT. MINE – DAY_ **

**SAM, HALEY, BEN, TONY, and TOM hurry down a tunnel.**

**Growling. SAM points the gun at it, then lowers the gun and turns to the Collinses.**

**SAM**  
**Get him outta here.**

Gibbs nodded. Getting the defenseless civilians out of there is important.

 **HALEY**  
**Sam, no.**

 **SAM**  
**Go! _Go!_ Go!**

 **BEN**  
**Come on, Haley!**

**HALEY and BEN help TOM along the mine tunnel.**

**SAM holds the flare gun ready to shoot, looking down the tunnel. TONY lights a second match, striking a ninja pose.**

"Of course DiNotzo would do that." Fornell groaned though he hadn't expected anything else.

"Does he expect to reenact one of his favorite movies or something?" McGee inquired.

"Probably not." Jimmy shook his head.

**SAM  
That's not going to do much.**

**TONY  
Placebo.**

**SAM  
Whatever floats your boat.**

"I know that one!" Ziva pointed to the television in enthusiasm.

"Congratulations, Ziva." McGee smiled genuinely at his friends success.

Abby held her hand up for a high five, and Ziva put hers up to it.

 **SAM**  
**Come on. Come on.**

**Growling. SAM turns: the WENDIGO is right in his face. SAM shoots and misses, then runs after the Collinses.**

"I'm pretty sure flare guns only have one shot per gun." McGee winced.

"Me too." Jimmy agreed. "Hopefully, Dean comes back quickly, or Tony better develop some epic skills."

 **HALEY**  
**Sam!**

**SAM and TONY catch up.**

**SAM**  
**Come on, hurry, hurry, hurry.**

**They run to the end of the tunnel, the WENDIGO right behind.**

"I thought the wendigo was faster than that." Ziva frowned.

"Maybe it was taking its time, knowing that there was no way for them to run." Abby let the darker side of her mind take over.

"Whatever the reason, as long as it buys time for Dean, I'm good with it."

 **SAM**  
**Get behind me.**

**SAM is large enough to hide all three Collinses. TONY stands next to him, handing Sam the matches before striking another ninja pose.**

**TONY  
You all just watch. I'm going to take down this sucker like Jackie Chan or Chuck Norris would.**

"I bet he would try." Abby grinned.

"Trust Tony to make that reference." McGee couldn't help but smile despite the serious situation.

Ducky mentioned this "He is probably doing it to make the Collinses feel better. You know, give them hope."

 **Th** **e WENDIGO approaches, taking its time.**

**DEAN comes up behind the WENDIGO.**

**DEAN**  
**Hey!**

**The WENDIGO turns. DEAN shoots it in the stomach. The flare goes off and the WENDIGO goes up in flames.**

"YEAHH!" Abby stood up and threw her arms into the air in celebration.

The agents grinned, knowing that those people were now going to be okay.

 **DEAN**  
**Not bad, huh?**

"Not bad at all." Jimmy still had a large smile.

**SAM grins.**

##  ** EPILOGUE **

**_EXT. RANGER STATION – NIGHT_ **

**An ambulance loads up TOM. Two POLICE OFFICERS interview BEN; SAM stands behind BEN.**

**OFFICER**  
**And the bear came back again after you yelled at it?**

"Another lie." Fornell raised an eyebrow. "No wonder the Winchesters were so hard to track...."

"Did you expect anything else?" Ziva inquired.

"Not really, no."

 **BEN**  
**That's when it circled the campsite. I mean, this grizzly must have weighed eight hundred, nine hundred pounds.**

**SAM nods.**

**OFFICER**  
**All right, we'll go after it first thing.**

**HALEY talks to DEAN; both have already been patched up.**

**HALEY**  
**So I don't know how to thank you.**

**DEAN smirks lasciviously. HALEY smiles despite herself.**

"Oh, Dean..." Abby put her hand over her face.

 **HALEY**  
**Must you cheapen the moment?**

 **DEAN**  
**Yeah.**

"At least he admits it." McGee nodded. "I mean, he and Tony surely do go after women a lot."

Abby nodded. "They are quite the flirts, aren't they?"

**A PARAMEDIC comes up to HALEY.**

**PARAMEDIC**  
**You riding with your brother?**

 **HALEY**  
**Yeah.**

**The PARAMEDIC heads back to the ambulance. HALEY turns to BEN.**

**HALEY**  
**Let's go.**

**SAM and BEN nod at each other. HALEY kisses DEAN on the cheek.**

**HALEY and BEN head for the ambulance.**

**HALEY**  
**Thanks, Sam.**

**HALEY and BEN climb in the ambulance with TOM, who is shirtless and bandaged.**

**SAM sits on the Impala's hood with DEAN and TONY.**

**SAM  
That shoulder of yours okay now?**

**TONY  
Yeah. Just had to get it put back in. I swear, though, I would have totally been able to Chuck Norris this guy.**

"He certainly is confident in his abilities." Ziva thought this over. "I wonder to what extent they go to."

"He has to have at least some skill." Jimmy mentioned. "He wouldn't be a hunter if he didn't have any."

She nodded. "Yeah, but why keep it a secret? It could have been useful in some cases."

"Maybe to avoid explaining why he had those skills." McGee offered.

They accepted that answer; it seemed to be the most likely.

**SAM  
Not with your shoulder as it was. It was good for moral despite that.**

**TONY  
Moral? Nah, I was going to do it.**

"Sure..." Abby drew that word out, glad that they were finally in the clear.

 **PARAMEDIC 2**  
**Close her up.**

**A third PARAMEDIC closes the ambulance doors.**

**DEAN**  
**Man, I hate camping.**

 **SAM**  
**Me too.**

**Noises of the ambulance driving away, sirens on.**

**DEAN**  
**Sam, you know we're gonna find Dad, right?**

 **SAM**  
**Yeah, I know. But in the meantime? I'm driving.**

**DEAN tosses SAM the keys.**

**"Fly By Night" by Rush begins to play.**

**SAM, TONY and DEAN get in the car, slamming the doors almost in sync. DEAN is for reason in the back seat though.**

"Ah, so Tony pulled the 'oldest' card again?" McGee grinned.

"He probably pulls that card all the time." Ziva replied. "He hates sitting in the back."

Abby nodded. "He once told me it makes him feel like he's five years old."

 **MUSIC**  
**Why try? I know why**

**The car starts and drives off.**

**_EXT. ROAD – DAY_ **

**The Impala drives along.**

**MUSIC**  
**My ship isn't coming and I just can't pretend**  
**My ship isn't coming and I just can't pretend**

As the television went black, the agents sat back and pondered the happenings of the hunt. Some people had died, but they successfully killed the wendigo. Plus, they got some people who they could try to talk to good information on a supernatural creature.

So, they decided to call this hunt a success for not only the Winchesters but also NCIS. But why did they feel so numb inside?

Ignoring this feeling, they turned on the next hunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, obviously, with Tony in it, the episodes might be a little bit different. If you so desire, you may leave a suggestion in the comments! ;)


End file.
